The Changing Faces of Europe's Coastal Areas

EEA Report No 6/2006
The changing faces of Europe's coastal areas

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3
Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 6
Executive summary .................................................................................................... 7
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 10
1.1 Purpose and key definitions ...............................................................................10
1.2 Scope ............................................................................................................14
1.3 Structure .......................................................................................................14
2 Trends in state of coasts: facts and figures ......................................................... 15
2.1 Main changes in land cover and population .........................................................15
2.2 Coastal zones of regional seas' catchments .........................................................17
2.3 Artificial surfaces ............................................................................................24
2.4 Agricultural and forest areas ..............................................................................30
2.5 Natural areas ..................................................................................................31
2.6 Coastal waters.................................................................................................35
2.7 Coastal dynamics and risk ................................................................................40
2.8 Maritime economy and coastal uses ...................................................................44
3 Living by the sea ................................................................................................. 48
3.1 Sustainability challenges ...................................................................................48
3.2 Resulting environmental quality ........................................................................67
4 Current trends in policy responses ...................................................................... 75
4.1 Development of policy .....................................................................................75
4.2 The main elements of current European policy framework for coasts .......................76
4.3 Climate change, coastal risks and ICZM ..............................................................82
5 Building the conceptual framework ..................................................................... 86
5.1 Towards an integrated assessment framework ....................................................86
5.2 Spatial analysis of anthropogenic pressures ........................................................86
5.3 Lessons learnt: data gaps and needs ..................................................................88
5.4 Communicating main environmental problems .....................................................89
List of acronyms ....................................................................................................... 92
References ............................................................................................................... 94
Further reading ......................................................................................................96
Further electronic sources ........................................................................................97
Annex: Data and methodological approaches ........................................................... 99
A Data and methodology of the report ...................................................................99
B Methodological issues of coastal integrated assessments .....................................105
The changing faces of Europe's coastal areas 4
Contents
List of figures, maps and tables
Figures
Figure 1 Land cover change within the 10 km coastal zone of 17 of European
countries (19902000) ........................................................................... 15
Figure 2 Built-up area in the 01 km coastal strip versus the entire 10 km
coastal zone (19902000) ....................................................................... 16
Figure 3 Land cover changes in 010 km coastal zone of European regional seas
(19902000) ......................................................................................... 21
Figure 4 Change of built-up areas in the 010 km and 01 km coastal zones ................... 21
Figure 5 Land take by urban development in 010 km coastal zone (19902000) .........23
Figure 6 Increase of area occupied by diffuse residential sprawl in the 10 km
coastal zone (19902000) ....................................................................... 27
Figure 7 Change of total agricultural land in the 10 km coastal zone (19902000) ........29
Figure 8 Net changes in pastures and mixed farmland in the 10 km coastal zone
(19902000) ......................................................................................... 30
Figure 9 Natura2000 areas in coastal zones and inland (2005) ...................................32
Figure 10 National coastal zones covered by Natura2000 sites (2005) ..........................32
Figure 11 Distribution of Natura2000 sites in 1 km bands from the coastline and
10 km band seawards ............................................................................. 33
Figure 12 Average (19922003) of bathing water sampling points compliance
in percentage of the total number............................................................. 37
Figure 13 Blue Flags in marinas and beaches (2004) ..................................................37
Figure 14 Rate of detection of exotic species in the Mediterranean Sea .........................39
Figure 15 Eco-labelled tourist accommodation in coastal and non-coastal NUTS3
regions (2005) ....................................................................................... 56
Figure 16 Approach for policy analysis of coastal areas ...............................................76
Figure 17 ICZM: the sea/land interface in a sustainable development perspective ..........80
Figure 18 Integration model of river basins, marine regions and coastal zones ...............81
Maps
Map 1 Population density in the European coastal zone (010 km) in 2001 ...............17
Map 2 Population trends between 1991 and 2001 in the European coastal regions .....18
Map 3 Pan-European marine ecosystems .............................................................19
Map 4 Share of built-up area in the 01 km coastal strip, by NUTS3 (2000) ..............24
Map 5 Population in coastal settlements (2001) ....................................................25
Map 6 Wetland concentration in Europe (2000) ....................................................31
Map 7 Coastal zone protected by Natura2000 sites (2005) .....................................33
Map 8 Coastal zone with Natura2000 land/sea connections, by NUTS3 regions ..........34
Map 9 Frequency of occurrence of turbid waters (from 0 to 100 %) along the coast
between Marseille and the Spanish border (2003) ....................................... 36
Map 10 Oil spills in European regional seas (20002004) .........................................38
Map 11 Catchments with regulated rivers in France (1900 and 1995) ........................40
Map 12 Percentage of artificial coastline length by NUTS3 regions (2004) ..................41
5
Contents
Map 13 Coastal erosion patterns in Europe (2004) ...................................................... 43
Map 14 Salt water intrusions into groundwater in Europe (1999) .................................. 44
Map 15 Container traffic in European ports (2003) ...................................................... 45
Map 16 Night glow as indication of human settlement distribution and
related energy use ......................................................................................62
Map 17 Mode of introduction of marine alien species ................................................... 69
Map 18 Earthquakes in Europe and adjoining areas (19642001) .................................. 72
Map 19 Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina National Park anthropic pressures........ 87
Tables
Table 1 European regional seas main figures .......................................................... 20
Table 2 Number of settlements with > 50 000 inhabitants per 100 km of coastline .......... 25
Table 3 Offshore wind energy capacity in selected EU countries (2004) .......................... 47
Table 4 Artificial and agricultural pressures 19902000 inside and surrounding the
Natura2000 site in Portugal .......................................................................... 88
Table 5 Overall progress on EU ICZM Recommendation implementation (2005) .............. 90
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The main content of this report is based on the work
of EEA Topic Centre on Terrestrial Environment
(ETC-TE), with contributions from ETC Biological
Diversity (ETC-BD) and ETC Water (ETC-W). The
contributors in the project team from the European
Topic Centre on Terrestrial Environment were:
Franoise Breton (task manager) Carlota Montori,
Aleix Canals (project officers) and special support
from Alejandro Iglesias-Campos (project officer
from the Ministry of the Environment of the Junta
de Andaluca).
The ETC-TE report team was assisted by
Oscar Gomez, Roger Milego and Ferran Pramo
(GIS team ETC-TE), Stefan Kleeshulte and
Jaume Fons (ETC-TE), Dominique Richard and
Sophie Cond (ETC-BD), Steve Nixon (ETC-W),
Sebastien Colas (IFEN) and Gonzalo Malvrez
(UPO).
Additional input came from Jean Louis Weber,
Andre Jol (EEA), Xavier Marti (Department of
Environment and Housing of Catalonia, Spain),
Franois Desrentes (Conference of Peripheral
Maritime Regions), Hartmut Barth (DG RTD)
and Alan Pickaver (European Union for Coastal
Conservation).
Many experts have been consulted throughout
the report. The consultation process included a
workshop for developing the outline of the report
(March 2005, Barcelona); Eionet consultation on
the final draft of the report (September 2005); and
input from the members of the Working Group
on Indicators and Data, under the auspices of
EU Expert Group on Integrated Coastal Zone
Management. The EEA wishes to acknowledge
their valuable input, especially in connection with
national, regional and local case studies.
Finally, special thanks should go to Birgit Snoeren,
European Commission (DG Environment) for
her support and advice on implementation and
development of coastal policies, and the related
information needs.
This report was conceived, coordinated and partly
written by EEA project manager Andrus Meiner
under the guidance and support of Ronan Uhel
(EEA).
7
Executive summary
Executive summary
This report provides information on the state of the
environment in the coastal areas of Europe, and
provides evidence of the need for a more integrated,
long-term approach. Since 1995, concern about the
state of Europe's coastline has led to a number of EU
initiatives, which build on the concept of integrated
coastal zone management (ICZM). ICZM attempts
to balance the needs of development with protection
of the very resources that sustain coastal economies.
It also takes into account the public's concern about
the deteriorating environmental, socio-economic and
cultural state of the European coastline.
The specific objective of this work is to contribute
to the review of the Recommendation of the
European Parliament and the Council concerning
the implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone
Management in Europe (2002/413/EC), planned by
the European Commission for 2006. This review
requires information on existing trends and on the
effects of policies and financial instruments directed
towards coastal management.
The EEA intends to contribute to the review by
promoting spatial analysis and enhancing the
integration of relevant environmental data with
related socio-economic data to the extent current
available information allows. At the same time, the
report aligns itself to the wider context of ecosystems
and human well-being set up by the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment (2005). By linking ecosystems
and human well-being, this approach focuses in
particular on 'ecosystem services', i.e. the benefits
people obtain from ecosystems.
Climate change and its impact on coastal zones is yet
another important analytical framework that is taken
into account while analysing the state of coasts. The
increasing vulnerability of the coastal population
and ecosystems becomes a challenge for the ICZM
approach, which should achieve a reduction in
these vulnerabilities through the coherent spatial
organisation of coastal zones and by increasing the
resilience of coastal systems.
By analysing the responses of society to
unsustainable development trends, the report
reviews existing relevant policies and tracks
how they may affect the coastal zones. However,
analysing the effects of all these policies is a
complex task for which there are not always
sufficient data. Nevertheless, the report is intended
to give a comprehensive picture of European
policies concerning the coast, either directly or
indirectly. The focus is weighted towards the EU
ICZM Recommendation and follows the work
undertaken by the EU Expert Group on ICZM,
which selected two sets of indicators: a set of
27 indicators for measuring sustainability on
the coast, and an additional set to measure the
implementation of integrated coastal management
in European countries. A number of case studies
completed within this EU ICZM framework have
also been included. The indicators also serve as
examples for a more widespread adoption of
integrated territorial management principles across
Europe.
Testing indicators at Member State and regional
level is especially important as the approach
(laid out by the EU ICZM Recommendation)
underlines the flexible and problem-oriented
nature of adopted responses. Here, the EU follows
the subsidiarity and proportionality principle by
providing leadership and guidance to support
implementation at other levels. It is also important
to note that a European approach on ICZM builds
on existing instruments and programmes which
may not necessarily have been designed with
coastal zones in mind.
The report serves the purpose of developing the
EEA's approach on integrated spatial assessment
with a view to understanding changes in coastal
systems and monitoring progress towards
sustainable development. It focuses mainly on the
environmental dimension, which is used as an
entry point to analyse the relationship between
society and the natural environment in coastal
zones.
The coastal zone in this report is interpreted as
the resulting environment from the coexistence of
two margins, namely: the terrestrial edge of the
Executive summary
8 The changing faces of Europe's coastal areas
continent and coastal water as the littoral section of
shelf seas. Together they constitute a whole which
needs a specific methodological approach, and
dedicated planning and management methods.
The report follows this conceptual framework as
much as possible, even though data availability has
often been a limiting factor. Constraints also exist
because models linking terrestrial drivers and water
quality are still not fully developed or efficient
enough to assess the changing conditions of the
sea and coastal waters, and the pressure of human
activities.
Despite these limitations, this report should
constitute the first integrated spatial assessment
of Europe's coasts. Added value is provided by
the variety of data and information that have been
collated and analysed (from environment, sectors,
policies etc.), and the construction of a conceptual
framework to make the coast more visible for the
public and policy-makers. Previously unpublished
information on land cover changes 19902000 for
European coasts has been provided by applying
EEA methodology on land and ecosystem accounts.
This makes use of the Corine land cover data base.
Work on this report has also led to a review of the
availability of data for such assessment and data
needs for the future. In addition, it has allowed the
construction of a GIS database for the European
coast to begin. Advancing a data concept for
coastal assessment lays a corner stone for building
a data model for coastal zones, and contributes
to establishing the infrastructure for spatial
information in the Community (INSPIRE) and its
implementing guidelines.
In the assessment, a number of priorities for action
have been identified. The most important ones can
be expressed as follows:
Population sizes in Europe's coasts are
continuously increasing, sometimes faster than
in inland areas. Coasts are converted to man-
made artificial surfaces at an even faster pace.
There is a need to develop more information to
better understand what is happening with built
up areas and city planning in Europe, and to
establish some thresholds and other planning
tools to avoid uncontrolled sprawl.
Infrastructure developments appear as a
powerful driver of residential sprawl, soil
sealing and heightened levels of mobility.
They are also, together with urban sprawl, an
important factor in fragmentation of coastal
space.
Numbers and figures from the Corine land cover
data base describing changes between 1990
and 2000 show an important loss of habitats
(e.g. pastures, mixed farmland, natural and
semi-natural areas and wetlands), which are
extremely relevant for biodiversity. This is a clear
indicator of the need for action to mitigate these
trends.
Coastal shelf ecosystems are also being affected.
A European map of sea grass communities is
urgently needed. Sea grass communities are
being degraded because of the persistence of
turbidity in coastal waters, trawling and other
causes. But data are still lacking by which to
map the underwater habitats on a European
scale.
Contamination of coastal water significantly
affects the capacity for coastal waters to be the
nursery habitats for species that will return to
deep waters. Land/sea models are needed to
better understand how terrestrial sources affect
the quality of coastal waters. Eutrophication is
still an important problem in different regional
seas.
There is an urgent need to find more sustainable
forms of tourism on the coast. Tourism appears
to be the most important maritime activity
especially in southern countries and also in
the Baltic countries, Poland, South Finland
etc. This activity has a very high spatial and
seasonal impact. Tourism flows affect the whole
of Europe. Urgent action is needed to build
European awareness and promote respect
for coastal areas, including economic tools to
compensate for major externalities and enhance
solidarity amongst European regions.
There is a need to map and manage the activities
that are growing very rapidly seawards (e.g.
wind farms and other energy plants, ports and
maritime traffic). This will require progress in
spatial planning of coastal waters.
Aquaculture is a sector that has a strong
growth potential, but it is often considered a
controversial issue. Data are needed to assess the
relevance of aquaculture for fishery community
needs in order to ensure economic feedback and
control environmental externalities, including
fish stock recovery.
Due to these different pressures, the EU
designated extensive coastal sites through its
Natura2000 network (both on land and at sea)
to protect the coast from further development,
and ensure the quality of the coastal ecosystems
and habitats. An initiative to create a network
of marine protected areas, ideally connected
by 'blue corridors', offers good prospects for
marine ecosystem protection. However, the
Executive summary
management and follow up system of already
established sites is still under preparation.
A large number of coastal regions are amongst
the EU's less favoured regions. Improving
living standards of peripheral coastal
communities is therefore an obvious challenge
for cohesion policies. Sustainable socio-economic
development is needed at regional and local
level, and could be supported by EU funds
through the enhancement of maritime activities
using sustainable practices, coupled with a
consistent monitoring of effects of the different
actions on environment and society.
The report identifies major coastal risks and
assesses how and why to reverse the trends.
To fight coastal erosion, the recovery of the
sediment balance is needed. In light of this,
a new concept of sediment management is
highlighted.
Looking to the future it is clear that the impact of
global warming and climate change will become
widespread. It will have a singular effect on
the coast with rising sea levels, the increased
probability of storm surges and associated
coastal floods. However, increasing human
vulnerability rather than physical magnitude or
frequency of the events themselves is the prime
factor underlying the rise in impacts. People are
increasingly occupying the low-lying areas that
are exposed to flooding, thus exacerbating their
vulnerability to extreme events.
Natural ecosystems have proved to be key in
increasing coastal resilience and protecting the
coast during hurricane episodes (e.g. Louisiana,
September 2005) and even tsunamis, (south-east
Asia, December 2004). Coastal wetlands, coastal
dunes and beaches, inter-tidal flats, coastal
forests etc. are the most effective defences in the
case of these types of natural disasters. However,
coastal ecosystems and habitats need space and
time to fully recover to be able to efficiently
protect settlements and lives landwards.
Results show that the EU's coast is made up of
very diverse landscapes and cultural contexts.
It is important to take stock of this diversity to
avoid cultural and landscape homogenisation.
There is a need to work more on regional
sustainable development. Using a regional
scope, islands need a specific approach as
they have specific problems such as limited
land availability, lack of water reserves, waste
management etc.
Policies for the EU's coasts have a long history
but have not been implemented in an integrated
manner so far. The situation today presents
a great challenge. It also offers opportunities
to promote the integration of river basins,
coastal zones and marine regions and enhance
cooperation with the water framework directive,
European marine strategy and preparation of the
European Maritime Policy. This should be seen
within a sustainable development framework
and the EU's ICZM Recommendation with the
national ICZM strategies (to be issued in 2006).
The implementation of all these different policies
has great potential and represents a unique
opportunity to create an integrated legislative
framework for the sustainable development of
the European coasts.
This report presents spatial information to support
an integrated coastal policy framework. It represents
a baseline to monitor the coast and should be
updated in 2010 in accordance with the EU's ICZM
strategy (2000). The EEA will support the revision
of the strategy in conjunction with the assessment
of the state of European environment. This new
information can bridge present gaps and provide
better regional assessments to fully understand the
trends identified at European level.
Introduction
1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose and key definitions
The 1992 Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro
recognised in its Agenda 21 the need for
environmental action for oceans and coastlines
(Chapter 17), and committed coastal nations to
the sustainable development of their coastal areas
and implementation of integrated coastal zone
management.
According to the basic principles of sustainable
development, all three dimensions of development
economic, social and environmental need
attention and should be treated together in a
holistic way. This report focuses primarily on the
environmental dimension, which is used as an
entry point for analysing relationships between
society and its natural environment in coastal
zones. By linking the state of the environment
with natural resources (e.g. land, water, sediments,
energy, biodiversity) and constraints (e.g. natural
and industrial risk, pollution), the report extends
to living conditions on the coast and aims at an
integrated approach.
The specific objective of this work is to contribute
to the review of the Recommendation of the
European Parliament and of the Council concerning
the implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone
Management in Europe (2002/413/EC) planned by
the European Commission in 2006. This review
requires information on existing trends, and the
effects of policies and financial instruments on
coastal management.
Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM)
promotes an integrated approach that involves all
relevant stakeholders and takes a long-term view of
coastal zones. ICZM attempts to balance the needs of
development with protection of the very resources
that sustain coastal economies. It also takes into
account the public's concern about the deteriorating
environmental, socio-economic and cultural state of
the European coastline.
The EEA intends to contribute to the review by
promoting spatial analysis and enhancing the
integration of relevant environmental data with
related socio-economical data, as far as current
available information allows.
At the same time, this report aligns itself to the wider
framework of ecosystems and human well-being set
up by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA,
2005a). By linking ecosystems and human well-being
this approach focuses in particular on 'ecosystem
services', i.e. the benefits people obtain from
ecosystems. Every person depends on the services
continuously supplied by ecosystems. Services are
delivered both by 'near-natural' ecosystems, such as
grasslands, seas and forests, and by highly managed
ecosystems, such as cultivated or urban landscapes.
The conceptual framework of Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment posits that people are integral parts of
ecosystems. Dynamic interaction exists between
them and other parts of the ecosystem. Furthermore,
changing human conditions drive both directly and
indirectly changes in ecosystems and thereby cause
changes in human well-being.
The report serves the purpose of developing the
EEA's approach to spatial integrated assessment.
The aim is to understand spatial changes in coastal
systems, tackle the biodiversity loss, and at the same
time serve as a first baseline for monitoring progress
of sustainable development along the coasts. The
report intends to assess what is happening in the
coastal areas of Europe and the current state of the
coasts. By doing this, it shows as much as possible
the specificity of the coast in relation to the rest of
the territory, makes the coast more visible for the
public and provides policy focus.
Throughout this report a European view is taken
which focuses on a majority number of coastal
countries in Europe. The number of coastal
countries analysed may change in relation to each
topic depending on the availability of data. For
example, 17 coastal countries are covered by Corine
land cover data for both 1990 and 2000, whereas
Eurostat data covers 20 countries (18 countries for
population trends analysis). Moreover, country
case studies and regional examples are used where
Introduction
relevant. Unfortunately, lack of more up to date and
comparable baseline data does not allow systematic
analysis of recent 20002005 trends in land cover of
coastal zones. An overview of the European spatial
data sources available for this report is provided in
the annex.
The coastal zone in this report is interpreted as the
resulting environment from the coexistence of two
margins: coastal land defined as the terrestrial edge
of continents, and coastal waters defined as the
littoral section of shelf seas. Together they constitute
a whole, which needs a specific methodological
approach and dedicated management methods.
In this report, coastlines are determined from the
Corine land cover data base (CLC). The terrestrial
portion of the coastal zone is defined by an area
extending 10 km landwards from the coastline.
Where relevant, assessment of the basic coastal
zone is enhanced by comparisons between the
immediate coastal strip (up to 1 km), the coastal
hinterland (coastal zone between 1 and 10 kilometre
line) and the non-coastal national territory, called
inland. The marine part of coastal zone is defined
as a zone extending 10 km offshore (i.e. as in
Natura2000 coverage analysis) or a variable zone
of shelf sea depending on the issue analysed (e.g.
navigation routes, territorial waters, fisheries, coastal
dynamics). The generic term used throughout the
report is coastal zone, but coastal area, coast, coastal
space and coastal systems are used synonymously to
better accommodate the particular context.
Depending on the coastline data and definition of
the coastal zone used, the estimates of European
terrestrial coastal zone can vary between 4 and
13 % of the land mass. In line with the above
definition and based on CLC data, there is almost
185 000 km of coastline and 560 000 km
2
of coastal
zones (terrestrial part) in the 24 European coastal
countries available for this measurement (20 coastal
EU Member States plus Norway, Iceland, Bulgaria
and Romania) (see Annex). This area corresponds
to 13 % of the total land mass of these countries,
and 11 %, if only 20 coastal EU countries are
included.
Comparison to the global value, which was based
on a different definition of the coastal zone extent
(area up to 50 m elevation or 100 km from the
shore), shows Europe's share of terrestrial coastal
zones broadly matching the world's average 4.1 %
(MEA, 2005a). Estimates for the whole of the EU
may also be different from presented numbers.
According to DG Joint Research Centre (Carreau
and Gallego, 2006), the area of 010 km terrestrial
coastal zone of EU-25 is 378 000 km
2
(9.4 % of
EU-25 total territory).
Regional analysis of European coastal land area
shows that this resource is distributed rather
unevenly. Two countries are almost landlocked
(having just a single sea port), nine include less
than 1 % of European coasts and nine countries
(Norway, the United Kingdom, Finland, Greece,
Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden and France)
represent approximately 80 % of Europe's coasts.
A regional perspective on the state of the coastal
zones also requires the diverse conditions,
problems and needs of European marine
environment to be taken into account. Based on the
ecosystem approach, the EU's marine strategy (
1
)
proposes a framework of marine regions and
sub-regions. The current proposal for the marine
strategy directive presents the vision of three
Marine regions (the Baltic Sea, the North-East
Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea) which
can be divided into sub-regions.
Such regionalisation of integral European
marine waters also facilitates integrated coastal
management and provides grounds for assessment
of regional seas' coastal zones. The regional
approach proposed by the EU's marine strategy
broadly corresponds to the UN definition of large
marine ecosystems in Europe (
2
). However, this
report presents the trends at the Europe's coastal
zones by aggregating them for the Baltic, the North
Sea, North-East Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean
Sea and, for a degree possible, the Black Sea.
1.1.1 State of coasts in Europe: main trends and
relevance to policies
Coastal ecosystems coastal lands, areas of
transitional waters, and near shore marine areas
are among the most productive yet highly
threatened systems in the world. Between 1990 and
2000, Europe lost more coastal wetlands despite an
already high wetland conversion rate during the
previous decades. However, the first signs of relief
are emerging with the new concept of 'managed
realignment', which returns some coastal space
to its natural state. Other valuable ecosystems,
such as coastal dunes and sea grass beds remain
continuously under threat.
(
1
) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/marine.htm accessed 06/06/2006.
(
2
) www.oceansatlas.org accessed 06/06/2006.
Introduction
Population densities along European coasts are
higher and continue to grow faster than those
inland. However, differences are less pronounced in
Europe than the rest of the world. Populations tend
to be concentrated in certain areas, most favourable
for trade, marine industry or recreation. These areas
are often the location of the most valuable coastal
ecosystems (e.g. Mediterranean).
There is widespread evidence that European
coasts are a natural environment that attract socio-
economic development due to a range of reasons.
This attractiveness introduces multiple factors
related to changing land uses, which can lead
to increased stress on both natural and human
environments. The development-related loss of
coastal systems, habitats and services has caused the
most notable changes to coastal zones.
Between 1990 and 2000, artificial surfaces in coastal
zones increased in almost all European countries.
Economic restructuring has been a driver for
infrastructure development, which in turn has
attracted residential sprawl. The highest increase in
artificial surfaces (2035 %) has been observed in the
coastal zones of Portugal, Ireland and Spain.
At European level, more than 2 720 km
2
of
agricultural land (especially mixed agriculture and
pasture) and semi-natural and natural land were lost
predominantly to artificial surfaces during this period.
Human pressures on coastal resources can
compromise ecosystem integrity. Recent patterns
of over-exploitation of key fish stocks in European
regional seas have altered the structure of marine
ecosystems. Other examples, involving increasing
sand and gravel extraction for construction or
beach nourishment, has the potential to disturb the
sediment balance around a European coast already
influenced by sediment trapping of river dams.
Potential threats from emerging off-shore wind
energy installations need careful planning, too.
There is growing evidence that Europe's coastal
systems (including marine and terrestrial) are
suffering widespread and significant degradation
(e.g. loss of habitat, eutrophication, contamination,
erosion, alien species). This poses a major challenge
to policy makers and coastal managers. Land based
sources of pollutants, but also other indirect sources,
play an important role in the formation of coastal
pressures. Therefore linking coastal zones with river
basins is a priority.
Physical space (land and sea) is also a key resource
that is needed to produce or sustain other natural
resources and some ecosystem services. Within this
interpretation the coastal zone is a 'finite resource';
'finite' due to its limited spatial extent as a narrow
band along the coastline which is subject to on-going
land conversion for industrial and urban use. The
'resource' of coastal space is also threatened due to
the widespread prioritisation of short-term economic
interest at the expense of regulating and provisioning
services that could be permanently lost.
People like to live by the sea because of arguably a
better quality of life. This fact may be expressed in
elevated real estate prices. But current land use and
economic practices often expose coastal populations
to threats such as coastal flooding and erosion. These
risks may severely compromise relatively high levels
of human well-being on the coast, and underline the
role for ICZM in reducing these vulnerabilities.
Coasts can support only a certain amount of activity
without suffering environmental degradation. Due to
the gradual expansion of different human activities,
coastal zones have accommodated a number of
different uses. Often these human activities lack long-
term coordinated spatial planning. These activities
also affect marine areas. Consequently, unregulated
growth has led to mixed land-use and large scale
fragmentation of open space (Belpaeme and Konings,
2004).
In response to this, the EU has been designating
extensive coastal sites through its Natura2000
network (both on land and sea) to protect the
coast from further development. For the EU-15
Member States, more that 70 % of coastal regional
units (NUTS3) have at least one Natura2000 site. In
total Natura2000 sites cover more than 50 000 km
2
,
approximately 15 % of the coastal zone (landwards
and seawards). More than 40 % of the total area
covered by coastal Natura2000 sites is represented
by habitats of European interest (habitat's directive
Annex I).
The state of the coast is often described through
the management of coasts on local, regional and
national scales. However, coastal issues are also
recognised to be of relevance on a European scale,
because often they cannot be solved by the Member
States separately (e.g. common natural and cultural
heritage, transfers of pollutants and sediments, tourist
flows or maritime safety).
Typically, management responsibilities with respect
to coastal areas are spread across several levels of
administration. ICZM is a process that implies a
new style of governance that is in partnership with
all of the segments of civil society. However, this
Introduction
collaboration must go beyond the involvement of
the stakeholders who are physically present in the
narrow coastal strip. As many of the problems facing
coastal zones can only be solved through a much
broader integrated approach, many actors from
elsewhere in the same marine region, river basin or
other parts of the hinterland must also be involved.
However, concrete integration actions usually occur
at local level, in the context of detailed planning,
problem solving and territorial management.
Regional level of government provides support
to this by ensuring the integrated planning and
co-ordination between local municipalities in the
larger regional context. The effective administration
of coastal zones becomes a key factor for achieving
long-term development goals. The important
condition for that is adoption of governance
mechanisms taking into account the territorial
integrated vision of the coasts.
1.1.2 Policy responses: from conceptual framework
towards integrated spatial management
Europe has a wide diversity of coastal landscapes
configuring a complex territory with regards to
different aspects of environmental, social, cultural
and economic conditions.
There is a challenge to provide human safety
and promote economic development without
compromising ecological integrity. Although
ecosystems contribute to human well-being, these
services are often not quantified and therefore the
benefits are not recognised in management. This
issue is exacerbated by a lack of knowledge of the
contribution of ecosystems to human welfare, such
as the ability of salt marshes to reduce wave energy
in coastal systems and their potential role as a
natural buffer (Rochelle-Newall et al., 2005).
The Commission's communication on ICZM
Strategy for Europe (COM(2000)547) asks for
integrated management of the coastal zone that
requires action at local and regional level. This is
guided and supported by a national vision and
appropriate framework on a national level. The EU
should support these actions through the generation
of factual information and knowledge about the
coastal zone by defining indicators for the coastal
zone. These indicators would also serve as examples
for more widespread adoption of integrated
territorial management principles across Europe.
The EU's ICZM Recommendation can be seen as
a first step in the implementation of the vision
outlined by the strategy. Along with setting the
fundamental principles of sound coastal zone
development, it calls on Member States to carry out
national stocktaking and prepare national strategies
for coastal zones. In addition, an activity to create
indicators for monitoring the implementation of
these coming strategies has been initiated.
Despite general recognition of the need for regional
sustainable development, existing environmental
policies do not sufficiently address the spatial
and complex nature of coastal zones, and only a
few policies facilitate the emergence of a common
conceptual framework for coasts. For example, the
European Spatial Development Perspective (see
European Commission, 1999a) a major EU policy
initiative to promote spatial planning and horizontal
dimension of sustainable development has not
counter-balanced the development pressure from
key economic sectors, such as tourism and transport
infrastructure.
At the same time, coastal waters are recognised by
the water framework directive as an integrated part
of river basin management districts. The European
marine thematic strategy also addresses the coasts
by promoting an ecosystem-based approach and
proposing marine regions.
Hopefully, the increasing attention to the coastal
zones will result in the development of an efficient
and ambitious integrated maritime policy in the
future. The Green Paper on an EU Maritime Policy
gives direction for the integrated management of
the sea and the coast within the spirit of sustainable
development.
All these new policy developments are expected to
create demand for the integrated spatial assessment
of coasts. This is essential for creating a knowledge
base for better regional management of coastal
systems at the land and water interface.
1.1.3 Coastal conflicts: towards a human
perspective
The methodology used in this report specifically
addresses the spatial analysis of overlapping
interests on the coast. As a principle, these
contradictory forces should be kept at a level which
does not lead to unwanted environmental stress.
However, this involves a subjective assessment
of the different uses of the coast. These subjective
views represent the values of people living by the
sea and need to be balanced against each other and
the views derived from outside coastal zones. To
provide an adequate answer, future work has also to
deal with the life of coastal communities. This work
Introduction
should take a closer look at how a local population
tackles local development and environmental issues,
and how they adapt to specific coastal situations.
Another key challenge from a human perspective
is vulnerability and adaptation to climate change,
especially with regard to sea level rise. This topic,
addressed as a transversal issue across the sections
of this report, is tackled via the human dimension.
1.2 Scope
This report looks at the EU's coasts in the
context of sustainable development, focusing on
environmental aspects as an entry point. Coastal
integration is also taken into account by an approach
to ecosystem analysis of land, water and biodiversity
characterised by a spatial perspective.
For the assessment of the environmental state of
European coasts, two underpinning activities are
addressed:
the spatial analysis of the state of coasts as a
result of changes in land cover and land use.
This is linked to the development of different
policies, e.g. tourism, physical planning,
agriculture, nature protection;
the collecting and analysis of stakeholders' views
and opinions on the analytical approach and the
results.
The focus of the report is mainly on the land/sea
interface. Marine ecosystems and offshore
environments are addressed where relevant and
where adequate data exist. However, the report does
not cover Europe's ultra-peripheral regions, such as
small islands.
1.3 Structure
Chapter two presents a factual description of the
current trends in the state of the coasts. This is
followed in chapters three and four by a synthesis
of the integrated spatial assessment and current
trends in policies relevant to the coastal zones.
The concluding chapter discusses the need for
a conceptual framework for the management of
coasts, and summarises lessons learnt and future
development perspectives. The annex presents all
data issues and an overview of the methodological
development that forms the basis of this report.
15
Trends in state of coasts: facts and figures
2.1 Main changes in land cover and
population
For the 17 coastal countries covered by Corine land
cover change analyses, three main types of coastal
land use trends occurred between 1990 and 2000:
artificial surfaces increased during the period by
almost 1 900 km
2
, pasture and mixed farmland
showed a major decrease (1 230 km
2
) and arable
2 Trends in state of coasts:
facts and figures
lands and permanent crops increased (713 km
2
).
However, there were significant differences in land
cover change patterns between various countries
and at regional level.
In 2000 the share of area covered by artificial
surfaces was 25 % higher on the coast than inland.
During 19902000, trends in the European coastal
zone showed that the growth rate of artificial
surfaces was about 1/3 faster than inland (for the
definitions of coastal zones see introduction).
In tandem, growth of urban artificial surfaces in
the coastal zones of Europe has continued. On the
basis of the annual growth rates observed during
19902000, it is projected that by 2004 the 1990
levels will have been exceeded by 12 %. The fastest
development has taken place in Portugal (34 %),
Ireland (27 %), Spain (18 %), followed by France,
Italy and Greece. The most affected regional coasts
is the western Mediterranean.
Within the 10 km coastal zone, urban surfaces are
dominant on the first kilometre from the shoreline.
In several coastal regions of Italy, France and Spain
the coverage of built-up areas in the first kilometre
coastal strip exceeds 45 %. In these areas further
development is occurring in the coastal hinterland.
Population densities are also higher on the coast
than inland. For Europe, population densities of
the coastal regions (NUTS3) are on average 10 %
higher than inland. However, in some countries
this figure can be more than 50 %. There are many
regions where the coastal population is at least
five times the European average density. Calculated
from redistributed population values for the
010 km coastal zone, population densities on the
coast are twice as big as total population densities
of EU-25 countries (Gallego, 2006). Unfortunately,
the lack of data availability precludes a systematic
analysis of seasonal population sizes on European
coasts. However, it is obvious that most coasts
experience significant seasonal peaks which in
some areas overshadow the permanent population.
The case study from Costa Brava (Girona, Spain),
showed that in an average year the total seasonal
Figure 1 Land cover change within the
10 km coastal zone of 17 of
European countries (19902000)
Note: Countries included are: 20 EU coastal Member States
(with the exception of Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Sweden
and the United Kingdom), Bulgaria and Romania.
Source: EEA, 2005.
Net change in land cover % of initial year
4.00
2.00
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
Artificial areas
Arable land and
permanent crops
Pastures and
mixed farmland
Forested land
Semi-natural vegetation
Open spaces/bare soils
Wetlands
Water bodies
population reached 2.6 visitors per resident
(Sarda et al., 2005).
However, European coasts are very diverse. There
are also many coastal regions (NUTS3) where
population density is five times less than average and
continues to decrease (see Map 1). Higher densities
are in general found in southern Europe, while the
lowest densities are more likely to be found in north
Europe, with the exception of the North Sea coasts.
In certain regions of the Mediterranean coast higher
densities are registered (e.g. Barcelona), but there are
also regions with low population densities such as
Corsica, parts of Sardinia etc.
Depending on the definition of coastal zone extent
(see Section 1.1), estimates of current (2001) coastal
population may differ substantially. A widely
published number originating from the Eurosion
project (
3
) estimates the population living in coastal
municipalities in the EU as being approximately
70 million people (16 % of the EU-25 population).
However, estimates vary depending on the applied
methodology. For example, DG Joint Research
Centre (Carreau and Gallego, 2006) has estimated
that the population living in the 010 km coastal
zone is 86 million inhabitants (19 % of EU-25 total
population). This estimate is based on the 2001
census data. Applying the coastal zone definition of
the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is likely to
produce yet another figure for coastal population
size. The following analysis of coastal population
dynamics in this report is, due to data availability
reasons, based on the coastal population of coastal
regions (NUTS3) rather than much smaller coastal
municipalities or the 010 km coastal zone itself.
Population change analyses of 18 European coastal
countries where population data 19912001 was
available (EEA coastal member countries Bulgaria,
Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and
Turkey not included) show that population
continues to be concentrated in European coastal
regions (NUTS3). According to the 2001 census,
coastal regions of these 18 coastal countries had
140 million inhabitants. Since 1991 the coastal
population has grown by 3.44 % (on average, almost
0.5 million per year), which is about 1/4 faster than
the growth rate of the total population of these
countries.
However, notable regional differences exist.
Some countries, such as Estonia, Latvia, Romania
and Italy lost coastal population between 1991
and 2001. This fact should be viewed against the
general de-population trends of these countries
(with the exception of Italy). In other countries
the coastal population clearly increased, but at
Figure 2 Built-up area in the 01 km coastal strip versus the entire 10 km coastal zone
(19902000)
Source: EEA, 2005.
0
10
20
30
40
50
B
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g
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o
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m
a
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i
a
S
w
e
d
e
n
S
l
o
v
e
n
i
a
%
% 1990 10 km % 2000 10 km % 1990 1 km % 2000 1 km
60
(
3
) www.eurosion.org accessed 17.03.2005.
a somewhat slower rate than total population
(Belgium, Netherlands and the United Kingdom).
One interpretation would be the saturation of North
Sea coasts, which already had very high population
densities. Regarding the coasts of European regional
seas, population growth increased on most sea fronts
between 1991 and 2001. The highest increases were
registered on the Atlantic coast (6.4 %) (e.g. France,
Ireland and Portugal). Even on the Nordic coast of
the Baltic Sea, noticeable increases of population were
registered (3.3 %), especially in some urban spots (e.g.
Helsinki, southern regions of Sweden). Some growth
still continues on the North Sea coasts (2.9 %). In the
Mediterranean, significant increases were registered
for some coastal regions of France and Spain.
Assessed Black Sea coasts showed a population
decrease ( 1.6 %).
2.2 Coastal zones of regional seas'
catchments
Regional seas have different coastal landscapes. Semi-
natural and natural lowlands cover almost 25 % of
the 10 km coastal zone of the North Sea and almost
20 % of the Baltic Sea. Upland, open semi-natural and
natural landscapes are comparatively more extensive
along the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Lowland
forests are important on the Atlantic coast, covering
approximately 30 % of the coastal area. Lowland
composite rural landscapes represent 20 % on the
Baltic coastal zone and 10 % on the Mediterranean.
The North Sea coast represents the highest percentage
of dense, urban areas (20 %). Dispersed urban areas
are more acute along the Mediterranean Sea (12 %)
and the Atlantic coasts.
Map 1 Population density in the European coastal zone (010 km) in 2001
Source: EEA, 2005, based on population density disaggregated with CLC2000, JRC, 2005.
Map 2 Population trends between 1991 and 2001 in the European coastal regions
During the last decade important land use and
land cover changes have been observed in the
10 km coastal zone on the five European regional
seas (17 countries). In general terms, the artificial
surface and associated use of the coastal zone has
grown intensively especially in the Mediterranean
(804 km
2
), and the Atlantic (690 km
2
). The North Sea
shows lower growth of artificial surfaces (235 km
2
),
and the Baltic Sea (142 km
2
) and the Black Sea
(11 km
2
) show the lowest value of change. However,
in relation to the total area of the assessed coastal
zone, the increase of artificial surfaces is almost 15 %
in the Atlantic, 10 % in the Mediterranean Sea, 8 %
in the North Sea and 5 % in the Baltic Sea. Changes
to artificial surfaces and the Black Sea represent
approximately 2.5 %. Gains in artificial surfaces
represent the highest individual land cover change
in the coastal zones of regional sea catchments.
Transformation of land into artificial surface is
most intensive in the first kilometre from the
coastline. The percentage of built up areas in the first
kilometre is 17 % for the North Sea coast (compared
to 11 % for the whole 10 km coastal zone); 16 %
compared to 6 % for the Mediterranean coast; 14 %
compared to 6 % for the Black Sea; 12 % compared
to 6 % for the Atlantic; and 9 % compared to 6 % for
the Baltic Sea.
Important gains in arable land and permanent
crops, i.e. intensification of agriculture (772 km
2
) is
observed especially for the Atlantic, compared to
Source: EEA, 2005, based on population census 1991 and 2001, Eurostat.
a general loss around the Baltic Sea (230 km
2
) and
the Mediterranean (253 km
2
). For the North Sea, the
figure remains the same.
Pastures and mixed farmland, natural and semi-
natural open spaces, and wetlands show a major
decrease, as they are transformed into intensive
agriculture or into urban land cover categories in
the Atlantic region, and in urban categories in the
remainder of the regions. Loss of wetlands, natural
grassland, natural and semi-natural vegetation, and
pasture and mixed farmland is highest on the Atlantic
coast. The loss of pasture and mixed farmland
alone was 1 220 km
2
. Almost all European losses
of wetlands have occurred on the Atlantic coast,
which lost nearly 5 % of its wetlands (422 km
2
). This
figure is more than the overall 19902000 European
negative balance, which is compensated by some
gains of wetlands in other countries. Loss of pasture
and mixed farming land also registered losses during
the decade on the Mediterranean ( 303 km
2
) and on
the Baltic Sea coast ( 229 km
2
). These losses were
generally replaced by intensive agriculture or land
uses of artificial surfaces.
Another important aspect to take into account is
the high concentration of Natura2000 sites on the
European coast, especially in the North Sea (where
around 20 % of these coastal sites are located).
Moreover, on the North Sea, the Atlantic and
the Mediterranean coasts Natura2000 sites that
protect both land and sea cover more than 20 % of
the coastline length. Here, available data clearly
show that European coastal zones are potential
conflict zones due to the high levels of urbanisation
and protection. These potential conflicts arise
Map 3 Pan-European marine ecosystems
Note: The large marine ecosystems (LMEs) project was created in support of the global objectives of Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, as
a follow-up to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Out of the 64 LME defined
worldwide, 13 are pertinent to the European environment. Numbering used in the map follows the one used in the LME project.
Source: UN (See www.oceanatlas.org accessed 12/10/2005).
Table 1 European regional seas main figures
Note: AL: Albania; BA: Bosnia-Herzegovina; BE: Belgium; BG: Bulgaria; CS: Serbia and Montenegro CY: Cyprus; DK: Denmark;
DE: Germany EE: Estonia; EL: Greece; ES: Spain; FI: Finland; FR: France; HR: Croatia; IE: Ireland; IT: Italy; LT: Lithuania;
LV: Latvia; MT: Malta; NO: Norway; NL: Netherlands; PL: Poland; PT: Portugal; RO: Romania; SE: Sweden; SI: Slovenia;
TR: Turkey; UK: United Kingdom.
Atlantic Ocean dehned as Pan-European Marine Ecosystems no 24 and 25 (Celtic-Biscay Shelf Sea and Iberian coastal sea,
respectively), the Black Sea includes the Azov Sea.
Source: The Black Sea Commission (www.blacksea-commission.org/main.htm), the Helsinki Commission (www.helcom.h/
environment2/nature/en_GB/nature), the OSPAR Commission (www.ospar.org/eng/html/welcome.html), the North Sea
Commission (www.northsea.org), UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan (www.unepmap.org/home.asp), the Large Marine
Ecosystems of the World (www.oceansatlas.org), and other weblinks; and EEA/UNEP, 2006.
Baltic Sea North Sea Atlantic Ocean
(Celtic-Biscay
Shelf and Iberian
coastal sea)
Mediterranean
Sea
Black Sea
Neighbouring
EEA and collaborating
countries
SE, FI, EE, LT, LV,
PL, DE, DK
UK, NO, DK, DE,
NL, BE, SE
IE, UK, FR, ES, PT ES, FR, IT, SI, MT,
HR, BA, CS, AL, EL,
CY, TR
BG, RO, TR
Coastline, km (from
Corine LC data)
75 298 35 696 46 306 51 471 8 603
Area of the 010 km
zone, km
2
(from
Corine LC data)
226 220 127 581 194 197 265 999 64 743
Sea surface area, km
2
370 000 750 000 Not available 2 500 000 432 000
Water volume, km
3
20 000 67 500 Not available 3 750 000 547 000
Average and max.
depth, m
53
Max. 459
90
Max. 725
Not available
Max. 5 800
1 500
Max. 5 267
1 300
Max. 2 210
Area of catchment,
km
2
1 700 000 850 000 830 000 1 900 000 2 000 000
Ratio of catchment
area and sea volume
85 12 Not available 0.51 3.6
Total population
of basin, million
inhabitants
85 165 Approximately
80100
450 160
Coastal zones
highlight
(010 km terrestrial
coastal zone)
Comparatively
lower and more
equilibrated
repartition of the
built up in the
coastal zone.
Important trend
of growth during
last decade in the
entire coastal zone.
Medium levels
of protection in
terms of number of
Natura2000 sites.
Accretion trends in
different parts of
the Baltic Sea.
Highest level of
urbanisation (17 %
of the coastal
zone).
Highest armoring
of the coast
including defenses
and harbours.
Erosion problems
important: 20 %
of North Sea coast
eroding.
Highest level of
protection in terms
of number of
Natura2000 sites.
Highest trends in
growth of artificial
surfaces and
sprawling in the
whole coastal zone.
Highest trends
of agriculture
intensification.
Coupled with
highest trends
in loss of semi-
natural and natural
land.
Highest losses of
mixed agriculture
and pasture.
Medium levels
of protection in
terms of number of
Natura2000 sites.
High level of
urbanisation
(16 %) at the
coast with high
increase of built up
areas during last
decade, especially
along coastline and
sprawling in the
entire coastal zone.
High level of coastal
defences creating
the 'Med wall'.
Loss of semi-
natural and natural
land.
Lower levels of
protection in term
of number of
Natura2000 sites.
Longest stretch of
coast affected by
erosion (30 %).
Incipient increase
of artificial
surfaces, still low
in the whole of
coastal zone, but
taking already high
percentage in the
first km coastal
strip.
Still an important
presence of natural
and semi-natural
land, including
the Danube delta
the biggest delta
in Europe.
Presence of
erosion (13 %
of coast length)
but relatively low
level of coastal
defences.
Figure 4 Change of built-up areas in the
010 km and 01 km coastal zones
Note: Countries included are: 20 EU coastal Member States
(with the exception of Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Sweden
and the United Kingdom), Bulgaria and Romania.
Source: EEA, 2005.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
N
o
r
t
h

S
e
a
B
l
a
c
k

S
e
a
A
t
l
a
n
t
i
c
% area
% 1990 10 km % 2000 10 km
M
e
d
i
t
e
r
r
a
n
e
a
n

S
e
a
B
a
l
t
i
c

S
e
a
from intensive utilisation of coastal space by
socio-economic activities (e.g. tourism, harbours).
Another worrying environmental problem is
the high level of armouring of the shorelines by
coastal defences and harbours. This is especially
important in the North Sea (16 %) and along the
Mediterranean coast (more than 8 %) where on
average the conversion of the coastline into artificial
areas (e.g. harbours, artificial beaches and other
artificial constructions such as dams or sea walls) is
very high. The coastal armouring should not be seen
as a local solution and in isolation from other related
issues because it is closely related to the important
coastal erosion process affecting the stability of
coasts of the whole region. The coastlines of the
Mediterranean Sea (almost 30 %), the North Sea
(20 %) and the Black Sea (13 %) have the most critical
erosion hotspots.
Intensive human use of coasts and the overall
increase in offshore activities in regional sea areas
have impacted on water quality parameters and
marine biodiversity. The main issues for each
regional sea are described below:
Figure 3 Land cover changes in 010 km coastal zone of European regional seas
(19902000)
Note: Countries included are: 20 EU coastal Member States (with the exception of Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Sweden and the United
Kingdom), Bulgaria and Romania.
Source: EEA, 2005.
10 5 0 5 10 15
Artificial surfaces
Arable land and
permanent crops
Pastures and mixed
farmland
Forests and transitional
woodland
Natural grassland and
semi-natural vegetation
Open spaces with little
or no vegetation
Wetlands
Water bodies
% change
Black Sea Mediterranean Sea Atlantic Sea North Sea Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
All environmental problems in the region are
exacerbated by low salinity and slow renewal in
this unusually shallow sea. A recent meeting of
Nordic environmental ministers (23 November
2005) called for the Baltic Sea to be made a 'pilot
project' under the newly drafted EU marine
environment strategy.
Eutrophication has caused increased amounts of
planktonic algae, increased frequencies of toxic
blooms of algae, the reduction of oxygen levels in
the deep waters of the Baltic Sea and a decline or
disappearance of larger perennial macroalgae.
Fishing of the main target fish species such as cod,
herring, salmon and eel is presently unsustainable
due to over-exploitation and impairment of
conditions for reproduction. Bycatches of marine
mammals, seabirds and non-target fish species
are also too high.
The intensity of shipping activities and related
environmental impacts have increased very
rapidly over the last decade and are expected to
increase considerably in the future. According to
Helcom, there are around 2 000 ships at sea any
one moment in time, accounting for 15 % of the
world's cargo transportation. Every day 150200
large tankers filled with oil are harboured
in 20 ports around the Baltic Sea. By 2015 oil
transportation is forecast to increase by a further
40 % to 160 million tonnes a year (Helcom (
4
)).
Pollution by organic contaminants have caused
health and reproduction problems in marine
mammals and birds. Oil has killed seabirds and
negatively affected benthic communities.
Changes in the structure and components of the
ecosystem are caused by introduced species.
Intentional introduction, fouling and ballast
water are three important ways organisms have
been introduced into the Baltic Sea. The river
connections with the brackish waters in the Black
and Caspian Seas increase the risk of introduction
into a very vulnerable semi-closed sea.
Special problems exist which originate from non-
EU countries with different policies. For example,
the pollution of the Pregolya river in Kaliningrad,
the potential threat from Kratsovskoye oilfield
and the D6 offshore platform (22 km from
Kaliningrad coast).
North Sea
One of the major environmental problems in this
region is its colonisation by new species from the
Atlantic.
The strong coupling between benthic and pelagic
communities in the shallow parts of the sea
makes it extremely biologically productive. In
fact, it is one of the most productive areas in
the world, with a wide range of plankton, fish,
seabirds and benthic communities.
The North Sea is one of the world's most
important fishing grounds, and the sea bed is
also rich in oil and gas. All these resources are
intensively exploited.
Anthropogenic impacts have been significant for
many years. The marine ecosystems are under
intense pressure from fishing, nitrogen input
(from air and rivers), recreational use and habitat
loss. Most notable are the effects of fisheries and
eutrophication. Until the mid 1990s pollution
was the main issue at North Sea conferences.
Over the last decade, there has been an increasing
awareness and concern for the impaired status of
several of the North Sea's commercially important
fish stocks, as well as the impact of fisheries on
other parts of the ecosystem.
North Sea coasts have high economic and
population concentrations and are most
vulnerable to coastal zone flooding. Resulting
inundations may become additional sources of
pollution for the sea.
Atlantic
The Atlantic coastal sea is a part of the North-
East Atlantic Ocean and is dominated by deep
ocean basins, with the exception of the Celtic Sea,
the shelf along the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian
coast.
The formation of North Atlantic deep water is
one of the driving forces for the thermohaline
circulation of the world's oceans. The primary
productivity in the open ocean is low, but is
increasing from south to north and towards
shore.
Biodiversity is high, but several species in the
area are endangered. A lack of sustainable fishery
management is probably the most important
threat here.
The main actual and potential threats to marine
habitats and biodiversity in the North-East
Atlantic are the:
- lack of sustainable regulation of fisheries, e.g.
over fishing, bottom trawling, discards, catch
of non-targeted species etc.;
- pollution from maritime transport due to oil
spills and TBT in antifouling paints.
There is a shortage of information and/or
monitoring on species, habitats and fish stocks in
(
4
) www.helcom.fi accessed 16.05.2006.
the North-East Atlantic Ocean, except for coastal
waters. The effects of global warming and any
changes in ocean circulation are critical for marine
and coastal ecosystems.
The North-East Atlantic Ocean is protected by
the OSPAR convention and other more global
conventions. Nature protection is primarily
focused on coastal areas and is still poor in other
parts of the ocean, e.g. sea mounts.
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is oligotrophic. It is rich
in oxygen and poor in nutrients. Oligotrophic
conditions increase from west to east.
The fauna and flora is one of the richest in the
world in terms of species diversity and there is a
high rate of endemism. Compared to the Atlantic,
the Mediterranean marine communities have
many different species with generally smaller
individual specimens (Mediterranean nanism).
Eutrophication in coastal areas has almost
certainly resulted in an increase in fish catches
of some pelagic fish species in the formerly
low-nutrient waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
However, fishing has resulted in over-exploitation
of several fish stocks in the Mediterranean.
The immuno-suppressive effects of contaminants
arising from agriculture, industrial activity and
population growth may have contributed to
the severity of mass mortalities among marine
mammals in the Mediterranean Sea. Toxic algal
blooms have become more frequent.
Fishery by-catches of marine wildlife pose a
threat to their populations. For example, mortality
of the monk seal is mostly associated with fishing.
Over-exploitation by intensive collection has led
to a serious decline in some corals and many
shellfish.
Introduction of alien species through ballast
waters, fouling, import and invasion has resulted
in the establishment of dense natural populations
of species. Introduced alien species are increasing
in the Eastern basin. The impact of some intruders
like the tropical algae Caulerpa taxifolia has had
catastrophic effects on the natural environment.
High development rates of some West-
Mediterranean coasts have made them
increasingly vulnerable to coastal erosion risks.

Black Sea
Nearly 87 % of the Black Sea is entirely anoxic
(without oxygen) and contains high levels of
hydrogen sulphide. This is the result of past
geological events, the characteristics and shape
of basin, its specific water balance and a high
degree of isolation from the world's oceans.
The composition and structure of the marine
communities are constantly changing with the
decline of certain species and the expansion
of others. However, deep pelagic and benthic
organisms are largely absent, and in the
undisturbed conditions species diversity in
Black Sea fauna is approximately three times
less than that in the Mediterranean.
Increasing salinity due to inappropriate water
management and regulation, and pollution of
brackish coastal lakes and estuaries represents
a threat to coastal wetlands, relics and endemic
species, especially in the Sea of Azov.
As a result of eutrophication, primary
production has increased and the number of
species has declined. These changes, as well as
inappropriate fishing practices, have affected
fish stocks. A change towards small pelagic fish,
i.e. anchovy and sprat, has been observed. This
can be regarded as fishing down the food chain.
The rich diversity of biotopes creates favourable
conditions for invasion by alien species to
the Black Sea. Deterioration of some marine
habitats and over-exploitation of fish stocks
Figure 5 Land take by urban development
in 010 km coastal zone
(19902000)
Source: EEA, 2005.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Land take by mines and and waste dumpsites
Land take by transport networks and infrastructures
Land take by industrial and commercial sites
Land take by housing, services and recreation
%
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has left the ecosystem vulnerable to invasion
by such species, for example via ballast waters.
For example, the invasion of the comb jellyfish
(Mnemiopsis leidyi) led to the emergence of huge
populations, which changed the equilibrium of
the native marine ecosystem. This caused the
collapse of anchovy fish stocks in the Black Sea
and the disappearance of the most valuable fish
species. There is no overall management of fish
stocks in place in the Black Sea.

The seas and coasts around Europe are a vital
resource upon which many millions of people
depend on both economically and for leisure.
They also provide a wide range of ecosystems
services that are essential to the health of Europe's
environment.
Different seas face both common and unique
interconnected challenges, highlighting the value of
integrated approaches to solutions.
2.3 Artificial surfaces
Artificial surfaces spread by 190 km
2
per year
between 19902000. Due to the irreversible nature
of land cover change from natural to urban and
infrastructure development, these changes are seen
as one of the main threats to the sustainability of
coastal zones.
61 % of total land uptake by artificial surfaces was
due to housing, services and recreation. Industrial
and commercial sites also took up land (see Figure 5).
Map 4 Share of built-up area in the 01 km coastal strip, by NUTS3 (2000)
Source: EEA, 2005, based on Corine land cover, 2000.
Table 2 Number of settlements with > 50 000 inhabitants per 100 km of coastline
Clusters of
ratio (see title)
Countries Type of settlement density pattern
< 0.05 Iceland, Norway Extremely low settlement density of North Atlantic coasts
0.150.35 Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Cyprus,
Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia
Typical low settlement density on European peripheral
coasts
0.400.50 Romania, Portugal Increased low settlement density on European peripheral
coasts
0.600.70 France, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria First tier high settlement density of intensively occupied
coasts
0.751.00 The United Kingdom, Italy, Spain,
Netherlands
Typical high settlement density of intensively occupied
coasts
> 1.5 Lithuania, Belgium, Malta Extremely high settlement density of short developed
coastlines
Note: Density for the whole European coastal zone is 0.43, which is infuenced by extremely low values for Iceland and Norway.
Without these countries the average density of settlements would be 0.57.
Map 5 Population in coastal settlements (2001)
Source: EEA, 2005, based on GISCO, 2000.
Closer examination of internal differences within
coastal zones shows that urban surfaces are more
concentrated within the first kilometre of the
coastline. In some countries they represent up to
Box 1 Coastal development patterns case study (France)
Development pressure continues to be very significant on the Mediterranean coast despite the fact that the
degree of occupation is already very high. This finding is based on construction permits granted by French
planning authorities between 1990 and 2003. Pressures are also being felt on the Atlantic coast, due to
construction, especially the coast of Brittany (see inset). Moreover, trends show that new construction
is spreading farther away from the coastline, provoking a shift of occupation towards second and third
development areas along the coasts.
45 % of the area. Therefore, the immediate coastal
strip (i.e. the first kilometre from the coastline
landwards) receives most pressures. These pressures
are especially intense in some coastal areas, such
This urban trend correlates with a social shift. The
near coastline is reserved for seasonal tourism
while the coastal hinterland is becoming the
home of permanent residents, who continue to
work in coastal cities or in the tourism industry.
An unexpected trend emerged with the launch of
the 'Prissol Act' in 1997. This was intended to
make rented housing available to young people
and middle/low classes, and give tax assistance
to owners of new buildings for rent. Growth in
construction on the coast was lower than average
in France. However, a boom in new houses in
the coastal hinterland occurred which was much
higher than in the rest of the country.
Source: IFEN (See www.ifen.fr accessed 13.04.2005).
Trends show an increased concentration of
the population along the shoreline. This is
depicted in the map of Brittany above.
Note: A strong gradation of population density
from the shore to the interior.
Construction of housings between 1990 and
2003 in the French coastal NUTS3
Population density in Brittany, France.
Inhabitants per km
2
by

NUTS5 in 1999
Very High High Medium
Low Very Low
Construction intensity between 1990 and 2003
More than 200 120200 90120
6090 3060 Less than 30
Figure 6 Increase of area occupied by
diffuse residential sprawl in the
10 km coastal zone (19902000)
Source: EEA, 2005.
45.5
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as on the Mediterranean coast in France, Spain
and some parts of Italy. On the Atlantic, the entire
French coast, the Spanish Atlantic regions (the
Basque country and Huelva) and certain stretches of
the Portuguese coast are also intensively occupied.
Many North Sea coasts are also very intensively
built-up, such as the Netherlands and Belgium. In
contrast, the areas surrounding the Baltic Sea and
Ireland have fewer urban surfaces. In fact, only the
southern part of Sweden and the Greater Dublin
area, Ireland have significantly built-up areas.
Urban development on the coast is often seen as
a way to sustain population growth and expand
and diversify economies. However, the way in
which growth happens also matters. The concept of
'sustainable urban design' considers the patterns in
which cities grow.
Coastal compact cities are often equipped with
dynamic harbours. They tend to expand because
of diversified economies and services. Labour
is attracted to these areas by higher salaries and
capital is more easily available due to higher
short-term capital returns. As a result, they often
become headquarters for global concerns. There
are 281 coastal cities with a population larger than
50 000 inhabitants in Europe. Only 10 % of these
have a population of more than 0.5 million, while
the remaining 90 % are divided equally between
50100 thousand and 100500 thousand inhabitants.
The leading cause of land uptake by housing is
residential urban sprawl, which on average is
responsible for more than 45 % of the coast's land
conversion to artificial surfaces in Europe.
Transport infrastructure development however
does not consume large areas, but still acts as a
main driver of artificial sprawl along the coast. In
the last decade, most European coastal areas (e.g.
the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Sea, the Celtic
and North Seas) have witnessed continuous urban
growth. This is often associated with the expansion
of a new transport infrastructure along the coast. A

Box 2 Case study: tourism in southern European islands
With a few exceptions (e.g. the Canary Islands and Corsica), hotels are the predominant type of
accommodation in southern Europe's island regions. Taking into account the limited land area, the levels
of hotel concentration in island regions appear higher than those within urban regions on the mainland. In
Greece, for example, the islands of the Aegean Sea, including Crete, accounted for 43.7 % of the national
hotel capacity in 1999. In Madeira and the Azores (Portugal), the figure was 11.9 % in 1999. To a lesser
degree, French islands accounted for 1.6 % in 2000, while Sicily and Sardinia accounted respectively for
2.6 % and 2 % of Italian hotel capacity in 1999.
In the majority of cases, high levels of accommodation capacity are reflected in high overnight stay figures.
Also, the rate in island regions fluctuates less between seasons. This is due to the fact that their sunnier
climates afford them longer tourist seasons (e.g. Greece has approximately 3 000 hours of sun annually).
Because of low domestic demand, island tourism is primarily based on an external clientele. Certain islands
are particularly attractive to residents (e.g. Sicily, Sardinia, Northern Ireland and Corsica) while inbound
tourism predominates on the Greek islands, the Canaries, the Balearic islands and Madeira. The length of
stay in island regions where domestic tourism predominates conforms to national averages. However, in
regions where inbound tourism predominates, the averages recorded are the highest of any region.
Source: Eurostat (See http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/docs/page/pgp_prd_cat_prerel/pge_cat_prerel_year_2005/
pge_cat_prerel_year_2005_month_01/5-11012005-en-ap.pdf accessed 22.11.2005).
Box 3 Case study: residential development on the coast in Finland
The major extension of holiday homes, in particular on the coast of Finland, has led to a situation in which
one third of the total shoreline is already inaccessible to other types of uses. In many coastal districts
holiday homes pose a threat to the freedom of movement for recreational purposes. Moreover, they also
alter the landscape by interfering with conservation of the environment and the landscape in general. This
will generate a need to adopt new measures to steer and possibly restrict any further expansion of holiday
settlements in the name of public interest (Gran et al., 1999).
Coastal region Total length of
shore (km)
Length of shore
on mainland and
islands > ha (km)
Length of developed
shore (km)
Degree of
development
(%)
1 land Archipelago 9 891 7 175 837 12
2 SW Archipelago 14 356 11 640 3 862 33
3 Western Gulf of Finland 4 860 3 869 1 402 36
4 Eastern Gulf of Finland 4 215 3 503 1 617 46
5 Bothnian Sea 10 617 8 470 3 472 41
6 Bothnian Bay 2 123 1 864 485 26
Total 46 062 36 522 11 675 32
recent study on urban sprawl carried out for several
countries from different parts of Europe identifies
the type of urban sprawl having the greatest effect.
Results show that in absolute terms the sprawl in
large cities with a population of more than 500 000
people and medium sized cities of between 100 000
and 500 000 people is greater than for smaller
cities of between 50 000 and 100 000 people. This is
because sprawl consumes the area with the same
factor (i.e. 23 times the core city surface) in all city
categories (EEA internal report on urban sprawl,
2005).
A significant part of residential urban land uptake
results from tourism development, which leads to
the building of hotels, apartments and second homes.
< 25 % 25 - 50 % > 50 %
Degree of development
Bothnian Bay
26 %
Bothnian Sea
41 %
Aland
Archipelago
12 %
SW Archipelago
33 %
Eastern Gulf
of Finland
46 %
Gran & Roto
Department of Geography
University of Turku
1998
Western Gulf
of Finland
37 %

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Often these new residential quarters create uneven
seasonal activity patterns as they are only used in
summer and remain empty for the rest of the year.
While good European data on the number of beds
in hotels within coastal zones are not available,
national values for coastal countries show significant
increases between 19902000. Strong growth in
the last decade took place in Germany, Spain and
Italy and this continued until 2003. France also has
large numbers of beds, but growth has been slow,
especially since 2000.
Tourism is probably the largest individual sector
to drive the coastal economy. In 2001, tourism
represented 43 % of the jobs in coastal regions in
France. It also produced four times more added value
than the production of sea products and maritime
transportation (DATAR, 2004). The country examples
above show that tourism is growing. Although the
Mediteranean is expanding the most, the Atlantic, the
southern Baltic Sea and the Black Sea coasts are also
likely to experience similar trends.
Tourism in Europe, especially in the Mediterranean,
is closely linked with 'construction', e.g. hotels,
second residences, apartments, leisure and
commercial infrastructures, which facilitates the
expansion of artificial areas. Therefore, tourism
growth needs to be decoupled from the sprawl of
man-made land cover.
Exacerbated by tourism, the environmental impact
of man-made surfaces is felt on land, water and
energy consumption, waste production, habitat
fragmentation. Furthermore, increased mobility
creates additional pressures in most coastal areas.
At the same time, tourism resources are at risk from
climate change factors, such as increasing summer
temperatures, drought and even a rise in sea level.
Urban settlements also are vulnerable to floods and
sea storms. This may affect the choice of destination
for future visitors, especially in the Mediterranean.
It is also likely to have an impact on the way built up
areas on the coast will develop in the future.
With growing income and increasing leisure time,
the tourism industry in Europe is expected to grow.
But this growth should be coupled with new forms
of sustainable tourism and a rethinking of urban
development on the coasts.
There are also contrasting trends which are pertinent
to urban development on the coast. For example,
the Cabo de Gata (Almeria region) in Spain is not as
developed as the rest of Spain because it is protected
by a natural park designation. Also, development
in Corsica is controlled by the prioritisation of
local interests. Long stretches of the Italian coast
which have historical heritage are protected and
new developments are prohibited. Similarly,
development has been limited in some stretches
Figure 7 Change of total agricultural land in the 10 km coastal zone (19902000)
Source: EEA, 2005.
1.85
0.02
0.65
0.42
0.64 0.70
0.12
1.22
1.16
0.04
0.18
3.06
0.28
4.40
0.94
0.12
0.42
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
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of coastal Greece. Island factors, such as size and
location, and terrain may explain this.
2.4 Agricultural and forest areas
Urbanisation on the coasts has been growing strongly.
However, built-up areas are still not the dominant
land use form along Europe's coasts. Most of the
territory is characterised by other land uses where
agriculture and nature still coexist. Therefore, it is
necessary to monitor changes in these areas as well.
Almost 2 000 km
2
of agricultural lands were lost
along all coastal zones at varying rates for different
European countries between 1990 and 2000.
Expressed as a percentage of total country area,
this process is most pronounced in Portugal, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Italy. In most cases
arable lands are lost to urban development, especially
if driven by higher land prices in areas adjacent to
settlements, e.g. the Netherlands, Germany, Estonia
and Italy. However, in Ireland, Portugal, Lithuania
and Spain gains of arable land have been made.
The loss of pastures and mixed farmland totals
1 230 km
2
, which is almost double that of arable land
losses. The largest conversions have occurred in
Ireland (769 km
2
), Portugal (317 km
2
) as well as Italy,
the Netherlands, France and Spain. However, some
pasture and mixed agricultural areas are converted
into arable land, which compensates for arable
land losses. Agricultural statistics reveal that this
change is related to an increase in forage production
for cattle, especially for milk production. A less
significant amount of pasture area has been taken
over by forests. This has occurred as a result of the
abandonment of farmland in regions suffering from
marginalisation or depopulation (e.g. in Estonia,
Latvia, Romania and south of Italy).
Forest and transitional woodland areas on Europe's
coasts increased their total area by almost 500 km
2

between 1990 and 2000. This net change, resulting
from gains and losses of forestland in different
coastal zones, represents only a slight increase of
0.57 %. Forest coverage of coasts ranges from 60 %
in Latvia to 1.35 % in Romania. Furthermore, trends
in forest areas also vary markedly between coasts.
Coastal forestlands have remained stable in most
countries. However, in Ireland coastal forests have
grown by 30 % and in the Netherlands by 10 %.
More significantly, positive forest trends can also be
found in Greece, Denmark, Slovenia and Germany.
In terms of conversion fluxes of other lands to
forests, pastures and mixed farmland withdrawal is
the most common cause of forestation.
In contrast to forests, natural grasslands, heathland
and the sclerophylous vegetation of coasts decreased
by almost 400 km
2
between 1990 and 2000.
In some coastal areas, especially in the coastal
hinterland of the Mediterranean, urban development
has grown very rapidly on abandoned farmland.
These are usually areas where young forests have
grown in the last decades and trees are often not
managed properly because of abandonment. Newly
created woodlands often become construction areas
for new residential housing or second homes. As a
result, these areas become extremely vulnerable to
forest fire. In traditional rural society an agricultural
buffer existed between houses and the forest. In
many places, this has now disappeared.
Figure 8 Net changes in pastures and mixed farmland in the 10 km coastal zone (19902000)
Source: EEA, 2005.
1 526
146
428
611
14 545
4 792
1 688
76 904
18 936
232
542
17 912
1 791
31 721
324
24
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80 000
70 000
60 000
50 000
40 000
30 000
20 000
10 000
0
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2.5 Natural areas
Wetlands, including freshwater and coastal, are
among the systems where multiple problems of
resource over-exploitation, pollution, degradation
and even conversion are occurring simultaneously,
and seriously affecting the well-being of people
(MEA, 2005a).
Although most wetlands are extensively used, they
still have low economic value. This lies in stark
contrast to their high ecological value. With the aid
of modern technology it is possible to convert most
wetlands into dry land quickly and cheaply. This,
coupled with the enormous development pressure
on European coastal zones and low levels of public
awareness about the function of wetlands, has
contributed to massive losses.
As the focus of this report is on the spatial trends
within coastal wetlands, it should be noted that the
accuracy of wetland change assessment is influenced
by the 25 ha mapping limit of the Corine land cover
(CLC) database. Many wetlands and their related
changes are smaller in size, and the total coverage of
coastal wetlands is likely to be underestimated.
In 2000, wetland coverage of coastal zones varied
between countries. In some countries more than
10 % of the coast was covered by wetlands, e.g.
Romania (26 %), Ireland (21 %), Germany (14 %) and
Netherlands (11 %). But in eight coastal countries
wetland areas represented less than 2.5 %. Between
1990 and 2000, the total wetland changes on the coast
(including losses and gains) resulted in a net loss
of 390 km
2
. A significant proportion of this can be
attributed to peatland afforestation in Ireland
Map 6 Wetland concentration in Europe (2000)
Source: EEA, 2005.
(EEA, 2005), while changes in other countries
remained marginal.
Healthy and naturally functioning coastal
ecosystems have value in their own right and
offer the greatest potential for the maximisation
of long-term, social and economic objectives.
Natura2000 is the EU's principal policy instrument
for ensuring the conservation of valuable European
habitats. It comprises a network of Sites of
Community Interest (SCIs) and Special Protection
Areas (SPAs), designated under the habitat directive
and the birds directive.
For the EU-15, more that 70 % of coastal regions
(NUTS3) have at least one Natura2000 site. Moreover,
there is relatively more Natura2000 designated
areas within the coastal zones (i.e. in both land
and sea area) than inland. However, there are
marked regional differences. For example, a higher
proportion of area is designated on the coast than
inland in Poland (x 4), Netherlands (x 3), Lithuania
(x 3), Germany (x 2.5) and in Belgium, Ireland and
France (x 2). A less pronounced trend is observed in
Spain, Greece, Slovenia and Italy, where the relative
Natura2000 coverage inland is higher than along the
coasts.
Within coastal zones the first kilometre strip receives
higher protection than the coastal hinterland.
However, in some countries designation of the
marine section of a coastal zone (defined here
as 10 km seaward from the coastline) is most
extensive.
Habitats of European interest (Annex I of habitat
directive) cover about 46 % of the total area
designated as coastal Natura2000 sites. These
habitats include mostly coastal and halophytic
habitats (approximately 3 000 km
2
), dunes
(250 km
2
), natural grasslands (600 km
2
) and forests
Figure 9 Natura2000 areas in coastal zones
and inland (2005)
Source: EEA, 2005, based on Natura2000 database.
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% cover inland
%
Figure 10 National coastal zones covered by Natura2000 sites (2005)
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% 01 km land % 010 km land % sea side
Figure 11 Distribution of Natura2000 sites in 1 km bands from the coastline and 10 km band
seawards
Note: The analysis of Natura2000 sites has been based on centre points of the actual site areas.
Distance to the coast (km)
Number of sites
662
686
261
150
132
108 103
88 88 90 85
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Map 7 Coastal zone protected by Natura2000 sites (2005)
Source: EEA, 2005, based on Natura2000.
(400 km
2
). Among coastal and halophytic habitats,
'sandbanks slightly covered by sea water all the
time' amount to approximately 800 km
2
, 'large
shallow inlets and bays' 460 km
2
, 'coastal lagoons'
330 km
2
, 'mudflats and sand flats not covered by
seawater at low tide' 310 km
2
, estuaries 250 km
2
,
reefs 120 km
2
, 'boreal Baltic islets and small islands'
110 km
2
, 'Posidonia beds' 80 km
2
, and 'Atlantic Sea
meadows' 80 km
2.
. The remaining habitats cover a
total of 80 km
2.
Under Natura2000 a number of sites have been
designated to include the land-sea connection.
The share of these sites (i.e. the % of coastal length
that these sea-land sites represent in each NUTS3)
is especially important in the Baltic countries,
along the Polish and German coast, in Denmark,
along some stretches of the Netherlands, along
the Atlantic coast of Ireland, France, along some
stretches of the United Kingdom and Portugal,
north Sardinia and in some parts of Greece. These
sites often include important estuaries, low lying
coasts or rocky areas.
However, a follow-up of the biodiversity status
from Natura2000 is not possible at present.
Indicators for assessing the effectiveness of the
designated areas in the long-term conservation of
species and habitats are still under development.
As most of the Natura2000 sites have only recently
been officially designated, it is too early to produce
an overview of their management. Therefore,
the adequacy of protection measures of the main
coastal habitats remains unclear.
Map 8 Coastal zone with Natura2000 land/sea connections, by NUTS3 regions
Source: EEA, 2005, based on Natura2000.
2.6 Coastal waters
Eutrophication has been recognised over many
years as one of the most important problems facing
European coastal waters. Furthermore, it exhibits
significant regional and seasonal variability. In order
to assess eutrophication, it is important to monitor
the evolution of nutrient releases. In addition to
known terrestrial inputs of nitrogen, such as riverine
transport, the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen
compounds has been significant. 30 % and 25 %
of the total nitrogen discharges occur from the
atmosphere in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea,
respectively.
In general, nitrogen and phosphorus loads in coastal
waters have been decreasing, and wastewater
treatment has improved significantly since the
1980s in all parts of Europe. In several countries
in north-western Europe a significant increase
in the number of households receiving tertiary
wastewater treatment occurred during the 1990s,
resulting in marked reductions in phosphorus and
nitrogen discharges. The situation is less favourable
in the Mediterranean, but coastal waters are less
vulnerable to nutrient surpluses, with the exceptions
of hot spots in the North Adriatic or the Lion Gulf.
Nutrient concentrations in Europe's seas have
generally remained stable over recent years. Higher
nitrate concentrations are especially prevalent
in coastal and transitional waters. In general,
nutrient loads are decreasing in all parts of Europe.
However, nutrient concentrations do not show a
similar trend. Chlorophyll-a concentrations, which
are generally highest in estuaries and close to river
mouths, reflect the land-based inputs of nutrients.
The impact of eutrophication on submerged coastal
ecosystems can be well assessed by monitoring the
persistence of turbid conditions (i.e. reduced water
transparency) in coastal and transitional waters.
By relating water quality to ecosystem health, this
indicator shows the impact of continuous water
turbidity on the benthic communities of the coastal
sea floor. Examples of such an impact include the
decline of sea-grass meadows which is due to the
deterioration of water quality in European coastal
waters.
Coastal managers need to know the extent to
which coastal waters are safe and whether a
monitoring system is to be deployed. The water
framework directive sets standards for the areas
within which monitoring is required, but a certain
level of uncertainty remains concerning the extent
of 'transitional waters'. This is especially the case
for the areas of estuarine discharge. Whilst the
monitoring data have to be collected in situ, one
of the indicators for the definition of the relevant
area to monitor is the persistence of turbid waters.
Specific algorithms are needed to identify these

Box 4 Riverine inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Baltic Sea lowest in 2003
In 2003, the total riverine (including coastal) nitrogen load entering the Baltic Sea amounted to
460 000 tonnes, and the total phosphorus load to 20 000 tonnes. Both these figures were the lowest
recorded during the period 19942003. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus loads coming from land-based
sources are the main cause of the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. About 75 % of the nitrogen load and at
least 95 % of the phosphorus load enter the Baltic Sea via rivers or as direct waterborne discharges. About
25 % of the nitrogen load occurs as atmospheric deposition.
Riverine nutrient loads consist of discharges and losses from different sources within a river's catchment
area. These sources include: discharges from industry, municipal wastewater treatment plants, scattered
dwellings, losses from agriculture and managed forests, natural background losses and atmospheric
deposition. According to the Helcom Fourth Baltic Sea Pollution Load Compilation (PLC-4) report, diffuse
loads (mainly from agriculture) contributed almost 60 % of waterborne nitrogen inputs and 50 % of
phosphorus inputs. As a result of the improved treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater, nutrient
discharges from point sources were reduced significantly between 1985 and 2000.
Nitrogen and phosphorus loads vary considerably from year to year, depending mainly on hydrological
conditions. In periods of high run-off, nutrients are abundantly leached from soil, increasing the loads
originating from diffuse sources and natural leaching. The annual freshwater inflow (riverine run-off) during
the period 20002003 was quite low compared to previous years, and 2003 in particular was exceptionally
dry. This means that even though figures for both nitrogen and phosphorus loads for 2003 were the lowest
during the whole period 19942003, it cannot be concluded that this trend is a result of the effective
implementation of measures to reduce nutrient loads in the catchment area.
Source: Helcom (See www.helcom.fi accessed 16.05.2006).
turbid water zones from earth observation data. The
growth of turbid waters, which are variable in time
and space, indicate the degree of sensitivity of these
zones to human activity (via sediment transport and
mobilisation), and the potential impact of detrimental
or noxious discharges. Map 8 illustrates the
concentration of turbid waters in the near-shore zone.
Turbidity results from the growth of river plumes
(Rhne, Hrault, Orb) and re-suspension, due to
wave action, of sediments from the seabed in shallow
waters.
Heavy metals and persistent organic substances
still pollute many sections of European coastal
waters, although pollution loads for a number
of known substances are decreasing. However,
it is important to note that the current level of
information available for the Mediterranean and the
Black Sea is insufficient. There is also evidence to
suggest that this decrease is leading to a fall in the
concentration of these substances in marine biota
in Europe's seas. However, concentrations above
limits deemed safe for human consumption are still
found in mussels and fish from the estuaries of major

Box 5 Sea grasses communities can illustrate status of coastal marine ecosystems
Sea grass meadows produce a variety of ecological goods (e.g. finfish and shellfish) and services (e.g. the
maintenance of marine biodiversity, regulation of the quality of coastal waters and the protection of the
coast line) which are directly used or beneficial to man. Sea grasses are very vulnerable to water quality.
Widespread eutrophication is leading to the global deterioration in the quality of coastal waters. This is
identified as a major factor for the loss in sea grass meadows worldwide. Light is one of the most important
factors in the regulation of sea grass maximum depth distribution and therefore sea grasses only grow in
shallow coastal waters at depths receiving sufficient sunlight. In contrast to the terrestrial environment,
light is a limited resource in the aquatic environment. As light attenuates exponentially with increasing
depth, light attenuation can also happen in turbid water. Therefore, in a situation of persistent turbidity,
the sea grass community either migrates upwards in search of light or dies. The overall distribution and
abundance of sea grasses have declined during the last century, and the main cause is reduced water
quality.
Source: Borum et al., 2004.
Map 9 Frequency of occurrence of turbid waters (from 0 to 100 %) along the coast
between Marseille and the Spanish border (2003)
Source: ACRI and EEA, 2004.
Aude
Orb
Hrault
Vidourle
Rhne
Durance
18.63 8.31
7.89
2.97
6.42
2.8
-50
-30
-200
-100
Nmes
Avignon
Bziers
Marseille
Perpignan
Montpellier
Aix-en-Provence
0 20 40 60 Km
% built up area
Frequency of occurrence
of turbid waters (2003)
Lowland open
semi-natural or
natural landscape
Urban dense areas
Dispersed urban
areas
Water bodies
Case 1/case 2 limit
100 %
0 %
20 %
40 %
60 %
80 %
rivers located near industrial point discharges and in
harbours.
Oil discharges from refineries and offshore
installations have been decreasing since the 1980s
despite an increase in the corresponding industrial
activity. During the nineties, the total refinery output
across EU increased by 15 % while discharges
decreased by 70 %. Data series from 19742004
suggest that discharges from offshore extraction
activities and refineries added up over 50 % of the
total incidence of oil spills (ITOPF (
5
)).
The number of illegal oil spills from ships has slowly
decreased in the North Sea since 1997. However,
they remain constant in the Baltic Sea. No aerial
surveillance is conducted over the Mediterranean and
the Black Seas, but there are indications that these
seas are heavily polluted by illegal oil discharges. Oil
spills are becoming the biggest accidental threat to the
coasts (EEA, 2004), and correlate with the location of
the main European oil shipping routes.
Bathing water quality is an example of a spatially
distributed and policy relevant indicator for
assessment of trends in one (microbiological) aspect
of coastal water quality. In 2004, the percentage of
bathing areas complying with the mandatory values
remained virtually unchanged and relatively high at
over 98 %. The percentage complying with the more
stringent guide values was slightly down on the
previous bathing season but remained high at 88.5 %;
a percentage still above the level observed in 2002.
New proposals agreed by the EU in 2005 to revise
the bathing water directive (1976) will help to achieve
even better bathing water quality and halve the risk
of contracting health problems. Over 98 % of the 179
new bathing areas monitored during the 2004 bathing
season complied with the mandatory values and
the vast majority also complied with more stringent
guide values as well.
The quality of beaches and waters is of primary
importance for tourism destinations. Coastal
economies enjoy the benefits of the good bathing
water quality and expanding annual denominations
for Blue Flag (Note: Blue Flag is an eco-label from he
Foundation for Environmental Education). It works
towards the sustainable development of beaches/
marinas.
There is an increasing demand for water for
drinking, tourism activities and irrigated agriculture
(including the intensive greenhouse cultivation) and
for local industries, especially in southern Europe.
When natural water resources start to run scarce,
the desalination of sea water becomes an option.
However, waste from the desalination process may
affect coastal water quality and threaten littoral
ecosystems, if it is not managed carefully.
Biological invasion by non-native species constitutes
one of the leading threats to natural ecosystems
Figure 12 Average (19922003) of bathing
water sampling points compliance
in percentage of the total number
Source: EEA 2005, based on European Commission, bathing
water directive (See www.europa.eu.int/water/water-
bathing/index_en.html accessed 08.03.2005).
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Figure 13 Blue Flags in marinas and beaches
(2004)
Source: EEA, 2005. Based on Blue Flag (See www.bluefag.org
accessed 09.03.2005).
0
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Marinas Beaches
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(
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) www.itopf.com/news.html accessed 10.02.2005.
Map 10 Oil spills in European regional seas (20002004)
Source: JRC, 2005.
and biodiversity. Invasive species are growing
in number, and their effect on native coastal
ecosystems is becoming difficult and costly to
control. A considerable number of alien species
has been introduced in European waters. Their
number dramatically increased between the 1960s
and 1980s, particularly in the Mediterranean. While
remaining high, the total number of introductions of
alien species has remained stable or even decreased
in the last two decades. Caulerpa taxifolia is an
example of non-native species invasion, which
threatens the Mediterranean Posidonia meadows.
Another frequently reported example is the jellyfish
Mnemiopsis leydyi. An explosive growth in its
population occurred after its arrival in ships' ballast
waters in the late 1980's. This caused devastation in
Black Sea fish stocks, oyster and even the indigenous
jellyfish population (EEA, 2005b). The jellyfish even
found its way into the land locked Caspian sea,
causing serious changes to the whole ecosystem
(Karpinsky et al., 2005).
The global sea surface temperature has warmed
by a mean of 0.6 C since the late 19th century. This
change is likely to be even more pronounced in
some regional seas that are either fully-enclosed or
semi-enclosed such as the Black Sea, the North Sea,
the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean. The result of
sea surface warming is a redistribution and loss of
marine organisms.
The rise in the sea surface temperature and the
intensified eutrophication phenomena may
cause a higher frequency of anomalous and toxic
phytoplankton bloom events and the enhancement
of hypoxia on the seabed.
Phytoplankton algae blooms have been on the
increase over the last several decades (JRC,
2005). Algae blooms may produce high biomass
quantities at sea and sometimes become toxic for
fish, wildlife and humans. The potential danger
of algae blooms depends on their toxicity and

Box 6 Waste management in water desalinisation in Andalusia, Spain
The Province of Almera is one of the driest areas in continental Europe with an annual rainfall of around
200 mm. It is also an area with the highest concentration of intensive agriculture production. Surface water
is a particularly scarce resource in Almera and intensive over-exploitation of underground waters along the
coast has led to the salinisation of the principal aquifers.
An important initiative from the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and the Autonomous Government of
Andalusia has been the development of desalinisation infrastructures along the driest areas of the Almera's
coast. One example is the Carbonera's Desalinisation Plant. With a budget of EUR 254 million (co-financed
by EU Regional funds, ACUSUR-Spanish Ministry of the Environment and local farmers) it is able to produce
120 000 m
3
of drinking water per day. The water is used by 200 000 inhabitants living in the coastal
municipalities of Almera for drinking, tourism activities, greenhouse intensive agriculture and supporting
the maintenance of local industries.
Brine (waste from the desalinisation process) is mixed with waste water from the neighbouring energy
power plant's cooling system. The salt concentration is significantly reduced and therefore the resulting
impact on coastal waters is considerably low. The Andalusian Ministry of the Environment periodically
controls the salty spills in order to maintain the status of the coastal biodiversity and protect the Cabo de
Gata Natural Park's waters.
Source: Spanish Ministry of the Environment (See www.mma.es accessed 9.07.2005) and Andalusian Ministry of the
Environment (See www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/site/aplica/medioambiente/site/web/menuitem.48
ed6f0384107256b935619561525ea0/?vgnextoid=72c01efbae625010VgnVCM1000000624e50aRCRD accessed
21.01.2005).
geographic distribution. In addition, Harmful Algal
Blooms (HAB) may contribute to oxygen depletion
but also disturb recreational activities. Therefore
events are carefully monitored at regional sea
Figure 14 Rate of detection of exotic species in the Mediterranean Sea
Source: UNEP/MAP, 2004. Marine pollution indicators fact sheets.
Total Zoobenthos Phytobenthos Fish
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
< 1900 19111920 19311940 19511960 19711980 19912000
Number of new species
Zooplankton Phytoplankton
level by, for example, the Baltic Sea Portal (
6
) and
the European Initiative on Harmful Algal Blooms
(EUROHAB (
7
)).
(
6
) www.fimr.fi/en/itamerikanta/levatiedotus.html accessed 01.03.2006.
(
7
) www.cordis.lu/eesd/ka3/cluster5.htm accessed 01.03.2006.
supply to the coast itself, which may give rise to the
retreat of the coastline through wave erosion.
River sediment flux plays an important role in the
sediment budget of the coast. Less river sediment
discharge alters the sedimentation-erosion
equilibrium within the coastal zone. Since coarse-
grained bed sediment load represents only a small
fraction of the total sediment discharge delivered to
the coast, it has been assumed (MEA, 2005b) that a
decrease of approximately 5 % of the total sediment
flux represents the critical threshold beyond which
the coastal system is likely to deteriorate.
It should be noted, however, that erosion is a natural
process which allows accretion in other parts of the
coastline. It is not negative per se, but becomes a risk
for settlements and human population.
Rivers are unable to carry their sediments to the
coast. Moreover, there is an overall deficit of
sediments resulting from dam construction on
discharging rivers and from channelisation of
rivers. This deficit of sediment is estimated to be
100 million tonnes annually for Europe (Eurosion (
8
)).
Therefore, the sustainability of sediment balance is
an important challenge for Europe's coastal zones.
Strengthening coastal resilience by restoring the
sediment balance will require identification of areas
where essential sediment processes occur, and
establishing 'strategic sediment reservoirs' from
The decomposing residues of algae and plants
(compounded by direct organic pollution) deplete
water oxygen, creating anaerobic 'dead zones' devoid
of life forms. Such dead zones have been discovered
in many lakes and estuaries and off the mouths of
several large rivers. They are growing, even though
this increase is only of a seasonal nature. Hypoxic
zones may also occur naturally at the bottom of semi-
enclosed seas, such as the Black Sea and the Baltic
Sea, where permanent anoxic conditions prevail.
In the Baltic Sea, the dynamics of the anoxic seabed
in deep water is changing due to influxes of more
oxygen rich ocean water from the Atlantic. In both
seas these oxygen depleted areas seem to have been
widening in recent years (EEA, 2005b). In contrast,
no significant trends in hypoxia are observed in
the North Sea and the Mediterranean. However,
recurrent near-shore local events can be seen along
the Aegean Sea and in the North Adriatic (JRC, 2005).
2.7 Coastal dynamics and risk
Coastal erosion has a major impact on European
coasts, and affects the environment and human
activity. It is largely caused by human activity in
the form of river dams, intensive development and
the use of sand for construction and engineering
purposes. Rising sea levels and increasingly frequent
storms and floods are likely to exacerbate this
problem. Human activity reduces or blocks sediment
Map 11 Catchments with regulated rivers in France (1900 and 1995)
Note: Large dams as dehned by International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD).
Source: EEA, 2005, based on Eurosion, 2004.
(
8
) www.eurosion.org accessed 17.03.2005.

Box 7 Large dams create coastal sediment deficit
The longest river in Lithuania is the Nemunas (937 km). From springhead to outlet, the Nemunas descends
176 m and debouches into the Curonian lagoon, forming a large poly-branched delta. Before the
construction of the Kaunas hydro-electric power station in 1959 the Nemunas carried around 0.9 million
tons of outwash to the delta and the Curonian lagoon per year. Today sediment discharge is 1.8 times less
than in 1959 and measures 0.5 million tons.
Source: Lithuanian Central Internet Gates (See www.lietuva.lt/index.php?Lang=5&ItemId=29589 accessed 15.04.2005) in
accordance with publications of K. Kilkus, J. Taminskas, and others.
Map 12 Percentage of artificial coastline length by NUTS3 regions (2004)
which sediment can be taken without affecting the
natural balance.
According to the Eurosion database, 10 % of the
EU's coastlines are already artificial and have coastal
defence systems or harbours. In 21 European NUTS3
regions more than 50 % of the coastline is artificial
and densely populated countries with relatively
short coastlines (e.g. the Netherlands, Belgium and
Slovenia) have the most shoreline conversion to
man-made surfaces. A fifth of the EU-25's coastline
is already severely affected, with coastlines
retreating by 0.52 metres per year, and in a few
cases, by as much as 15 metres. Current data show
that about 25 % of European coastlines experiences
erosion.
It is widely debated that possible sea level rise
and an increase in the strength and frequency of
storms may cause more coastal erosion and coastal
floods or inundations. Many countries have assessed
the potential threats from climate change to their
coastal areas. On a European scale, the Eurosion
project offers information on the relative sea level
rise at 237 locations along the European coastline,

Box 8 European coastal lowlands most vulnerable to sea level rise
Almost 100 000 km
2
of Europe lies below a 5 m elevation. This figure constitutes 2 % of the total territory
of 20 coastal EU (and candidate) countries. More than half of this area is located closer than 10 km from
the sea (10 km zone), which means that 9 % of all European coastal zones (12 % for EU Members States)
lie below a 5 m elevation. These areas are potentially vulnerable to sea level rise and related inundations.
The most vulnerable countries are the Netherlands and Belgium, where more than 85 % of coast is under a
5 m elevation. Other countries at risk include Germany and Romania where 50 % of the coastline is below
5 m, Poland (30 %) and Denmark (22 %). In France, the United Kingdom and Estonia low coasts cover
1015 % of the country. Eight countries, mostly in southern Europe, have less than 5 % of their coastal
zones below 5 m. However, individual hot spots exist. The most significant of these is the area surrounding
Venice in Italy.
When combining this information with the likelihood of severe storm surges, the vulnerability of these
coastlines becomes even more apparent. Surge heights with 50-year extreme maxims of up to 3 m above
normal level are observed in north-western Europe, e.g. in southern North Sea shores, and, to a lesser
extent, the southern and eastern Baltic coasts.
Today, the majority of coastal lowlands have ageing defence systems. Considerable resources are needed
to maintain and improve these systems, and their eventual capacity to withstand a sea offensive is not
unlimited.

Note: The DEM/DTM is compiled by EEA and derived from the GTOPO30 dataset from U.S. Geological Survey.
Source: EEA, 2005.
Lowland in
coastal countries
Below 5 m
elevation
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 0 20 30
60
50
40
0 10 40 30 20
50
40
Map 13 Coastal erosion patterns in Europe (2004)

Box 9 Case study: sea level change affecting the spatial development in the Baltic Sea
region (Interreg IIIB project SEAREG)
The SEAREG project was partly co-financed by the Interreg IIIB programme of the European Union and
studied examples of sea level change scenarios. The leading partner was the Geological Survey of Finland.
The project aimed to strengthen the linkages between planning and decision-making, and climate change
adaptation. The results of global climate models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) were downscaled for the Baltic Sea region and applied to local case study areas. The northern
part of the Baltic Sea region faces lower sea level rise, as the post-glacial rebound lessens its impact. The
sea around northern Scandinavia will rise up to 9 mm/yr, whereas western Pomerania will experience a
subsidence of about 1 mm/yr. Land loss caused by inundation could be negligible in sparsely populated
areas. Meanwhile in areas with high population density and housing built close to the shore similar land loss
may be more serious.
Source: SEAREG (See www.gtk.fi/projects/seareg accessed 19.10.2005).
and provides a total value for economic assets
located within 500 metres of the European coastline.
This value includes beaches, agricultural land and
industrial facilities. The figure is currently estimated at
EUR 500 to 1 000 billion.
Human exposure to sea flooding on the European
coast is unevenly distributed, and the impact of sea
level rise is expected to be more local than global.
Low coastal areas and small islands are at more risk
than others, but contemporary land level movements
may also be a factor. Land subsidence as a result of
groundwater withdrawal or compaction may become
increasingly relevant for some cities, while other areas
may experience isostatic land up-lift. This may result
in the relative sea level rise becoming smaller.
Besides sea level rise, changes in the frequency
and/or intensity of storms and associated surges are
expected. Even more significant than the direct loss of
land caused by the sea level rising are the associated
indirect factors. These include erosion patterns and
damage to coastal infrastructure, the salination of
wells, suboptimal functioning of the sewage system
of coastal cities (with resulting health impacts), loss of
littoral ecosystems and loss of biotic resources.
Higher temperatures, especially if combined with
irrigation, growing population and tourism pressure
can create increased demand on water resources.
In 10 out of 12 countries where over-exploitation
of groundwater are reported, saltwater intrusion
results. Large areas of the Mediterranean coastline
in Italy, Spain and Turkey are reported to be affected
by saltwater intrusion (EEA, 2003). Across Europe
more than 100 areas in 10 countries are affected by
marine saltwater intrusion and only in 16 areas (three
countries) is saltwater intrusion caused by the rise of
highly mineralised water from deeper aquifers.
Lagoon ecosystems are fragile due to water from
developed areas, their shallowness and low water
volume to surface ratio. As a consequence, there is
a high probability that coastal lagoons will be the
first to react to consequences of changes in climatic
trends. Sea level rise will increase water depth in the
lagoon, alter water circulation and salinity, affect solid
transport and erosion-sedimentation equilibrium and
erode the lagoon barriers (JRC, 2005).
2.8 Maritime economy and coastal uses
Maritime activities have a clear positive impact on
economic and social conditions at the coasts. For
example, the maritime economy in France totalled
EUR 18.5 billion in 2001 (DATAR, 2004). At EU level,
shipbuilding, ports, fisheries and related services
industry employ 2.5 million people. At the same time,
maritime activities such as tourism, maritime traffic,
fisheries, aquaculture and offshore energy installations
may often have adverse environmental impacts.
Map 14 Salt water intrusions into groundwater in Europe (1999)
Source: EEA, 1999.
The intensity of maritime transport has been
continuously growing. The pressure of shipping
on European coastal waters can be assessed by the
short-sea shipping indicator. This deals with the
transport of goods between European destinations,
and includes the entire coast of the Mediterranean
Sea and the Black Sea (Eurostat, 2006). In terms of
volume, short sea shipping is extremely important
in the European Union. Between 1991 and 2001 it
grew by around a third to approximately 1 270 billion
tonne-km. This is comparable with road transport
demand. During 2003 Italy and the United Kingdom
received the most vessel arrivals in terms of tonnage.
Container traffic is largely bound to specialised ports
on the southern North Sea coast. Overall, European
sea transport showed an ascending curve with an
annual growth of approximately 1 % for the period
19972001. Passenger traffic is heavily dominated
by ferry links, which extend transport networks
to the seas with all the related consequences to the
environment.
Over the past decade the marine fisheries sector has
experienced a crisis. This crisis is structural rather
than temporary and no immediate end is foreseeable.
Marine fisheries are generally overcapitalised, and
many stocks in the European coastal seas, the eastern
Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea are
over fished and/or seriously depleted.
According to the EEA (
9
), the total fish landings of
all species in all European sea regions (North-East
Map 15 Container traffic in European ports (2003)
Source: ISEMAR (See www.isemar.asso.fr accessed 10.02.2005).
(
9
) http://themes.eea.eu.int/Sectors_and_activities/fishery/indicators/FISH11 %2C2004.05/index_html accessed 25.01.2006.
Atlantic Ocean, including the North and the Baltic
Seas, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the
Arctic Ocean) increased by 20 % or 1.6 million tonnes
between 1990 and 2000. This was largely due to
an increase in landings by vessels of the EU-15
+ EFTA, which account for an average of 93 % of total
European (European Economic Area) landings by
weight. Landings by EU-15 + EFTA vessels increased
by 19 % or 1.59 million tonnes, while landings by
AC-13 (now EU-10 and EU candidate countries)
and Balkan vessels increased by 30 % or 190 000
tonnes. Landings peaked in 1997 at 12 million
tonnes and declined to 11 million tonnes in 2000.
Increases or decreases in landings do not, however,

Box 10 Maritime traffic in the Baltic Sea
The issue of maritime safety is given the highest priority in the Baltic Sea region. The Baltic is a relatively
small sea with many rocky shallows, narrow straits and labyrinthine archipelagos. It also experiences harsh
wintery conditions. The Baltic Sea is criss-crossed by some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The
intensity of shipping activities here has been growing very rapidly over the past decade, and there is no
sign of this trend slowing down. There are approximately 2 000 ships at sea at any one time, accounting
for 15 % of the world's cargo transportation. All types of cargo are shipped in and out of the Baltic Sea
countries, including oil and hazardous substances. Every day 150200 large tankers are filled with oil in 20
ports around the Baltic.
The size and number of ships have been on the increase. Today some tankers in the Baltic carry as much as
100 000 tonnes of oil, which increases the risk of a major oil spill. Every year about 70 shipping accidents
occur in the Baltic Sea. Fortunately, most of them do not cause notable pollution. However, a single large-
scale accident could seriously threaten the entire Baltic marine environment.
Forecasts predict a further 40 % increase in oil transportation by 2015 from today's level of more than
160 million tonnes a year. Cost factors would already favour the use of even larger tankers able to carry
100 000150 000 tonnes of oil.
Source: Helcom Newsletter 3/2005 (See http://Helcom.navigo.fi/stc/files/Publications/Newsletters/Newsletter_03_2005.pdf
accessed 09.06.2005).

Box 11 Air emissions of NO
X
from ships
The shipping sector is one of the main sources of NO
X
emissions in the Baltic Sea. Shipping contributes
to approximately 16 000 tonnes of nitrogen deposition indirectly into the Baltic Sea and to approximately
8 000 tonnes into the North Sea. Shipping emissions of NO
X
are expected to continue increasing, as
nitrogen emissions are not extensively regulated in the shipping sector.
Percentage of total emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO
X
) from different sectors in the Helcom
Contracting Parties

Source: Helcom (See www.helcom.fi accessed 16.05.2006).
Other mobile sources
incl. shipping 14 %
Energy combustion 29 %
Non-industrial combustion 5 %
Combustion in manufacturing 11 %
Production processes 1 %
Road transport 40 %
signal a healthy or unhealthy fishing industry or
environment. Increases in fish landings may be
driven by either increasing amounts of available
fish or a greater fishing effort. Similarly, decreasing
landings may be the result of a lack of available fish
or a change in management measures or fishing
patterns. The seas around Europe contribute the
majority of landings by European countries i.e.
European countries are not heavily dependent
on landings from sea areas outside European sea
regions. Since 1990, dependence on landings from
distant waters has declined from 21 % or 2.5 million
tonnes to 8 % or 0.9 million tonnes.
In seeking to satisfy the growing demand of
370 million consumers in EU Member States,
European fisheries have been obliged to exploit
unconventional species and products, equip trawlers
to harvest deep water resources and seek extra
supplies through fishery agreements elsewhere in the
world.
This latter option poses a challenge to the coherence
of the EU's policies. EU support for rational resource
management by developing countries may clash with
pressures for access to the same country's fishing
grounds by fleets whose capacities are in excess of
requirements for domestic EU waters (EEA, 2005b).
Since 1990 aquaculture production has increased by
more than 35 % in the EU-15 and EFTA countries.
This growth has mostly taken place in fish rather than
shellfish production. As a result, increased pressures
on water, ecological quality and ecosystems have
occurred. Norway is the largest producer. In 2003,
it produced 600 000 tonnes per year; 90 % of which
was Atlantic salmon. Other major producers include
Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Turkey
is the largest producer among new Member States
and candidate countries. The majority of production
takes place in marine and brackish environments.
The share of freshwater production is modest and
further decreased from 7.4 % in 1990 to 7.0 % in 2001.
Aquaculture production intensity as measured per
unit of coastline length has reached an average of
around 8 tonnes per km of coastline in EU-15 and
EFTA countries compared to two tonnes per km in
new Member States and candidate countries.
As aquaculture becomes a major user of the coastal
zone waters, its pressures on the coastal ecosystems
are starting to be felt. In particular, the marine finfish
culture (mainly Atlantic salmon) is now making a
significant contribution to nutrient loads in coastal
waters. Moreover, the impact on marine fish stocks
becomes important, as about 3 to 6 kg of wild fish are
needed to produce 1 kg of farm fish.
Energy installations also make more and more use
of coastal areas. The number of offshore wind farms
visible on Europe's coasts has increased over the
past decades, and has corresponded with the rapid
expansion in total wind energy capacity.
In 2001, only approximately 250 MW of the total
EU wind turbine capacity of 15 000 MW came
from offshore wind installations. In 2004, the total
capacity of offshore wind energy turbines in key
producing countries added up to approximately
605 MW. Projections for 2010 put the share of
offshore installations to around 13 % (10 000 MW),
according to the European Wind Energy Association
(EWEA, 2004). The proportion could reach as
high as 39 % (70 000 MW) by 2020. These numbers
demonstrate the huge potential of offshore wind
energy plants and also the level of new activity in
coastal waters.
Most existing offshore wind farms and a large
majority of prospective sites are located in the north
western part of Europe. Construction is encouraged
by the attractive conditions of the area, e.g. shallow
seas, good wind conditions and close proximity to
the national electricity grid. The shallow waters of
the continental shelf are also areas where offshore
oil installations are established (e.g. the North
Sea, the Adriatic Sea, the Straight of Sicily, and the
north-east Black Sea). These conditions may lead to
increased competition between the wind energy and
oil industries. Therefore, sound spatial planning of
coastal sea areas is required.
Dredging, seafloor mining and communication
cabling boost coastal employment and, in the case
of renewable energy, are providing environmental
benefits. However, they also put escalating pressures
on coastal zones.
Table 3 Offshore wind energy capacity in
selected EU countries (2004)
Country Existing offshore wind
energy installations
MW Number of sites
Denmark 409.0 7
Germany 4.5 1
Ireland 25.2 1
Netherlands 18.8 2
Sweden 23.0 3
United Kingdom 124.0 3
Total 604.5 17
Source: EWEA, 2004.
Living by the sea
3 Living by the sea
3.1 Sustainability challenges
The coast, as the interface between the atmosphere,
land and sea, is recognised as one of the most
important ecosystems on earth. Major movement
of sediments and nutrients are powered by waves,
tides and currents in water and air. This energy
creates a habitat that has adapted to the very specific,
diverse and, sometimes, extreme conditions of the
coast. Globally, it is therefore very important for
biodiversity, the delivery of ecosystem services and
sustaining production for human well-being.
Coastal ecosystems provide a wide range of services
to human beings (MEA, 2005b). On a global scale,
these include regulation and support services,
such as shoreline stabilisation, nutrient regulation,
marine life nursery functions, carbon sequestration,
buffering from natural hazards, detoxification of
polluted waters and waste disposal. They also include
provisioning services, such as the supply of food,
fuel wood, energy resources and natural products,
and cultural (amenity) services, such as tourism and
recreation. These services are of high value not only
to local communities living on the coasts, but also to
national economies and global trade.
Increasing consumption per person, multiplied by
a growing population, are the root causes of the
increasing demand for ecosystem services. With one
third of mankind living within a 50 km distance of
the coast (EEA (
10
)), the coastal ecosystem is among
the most productive yet highly threatened systems
in the world. In 2000, the world coastal population
density in coastal areas was 99.6 people per km
2
,
while in inland areas the density was 37.9 people
per km
2
; nearly three times less (MEA, 2005b).
In Europe, the difference in population density
is far less. Coastal regions (NUTS3) have about
10 % higher values due to historic and widespread
settlement development. However, the European
share of coastal population in total population is
higher than worldwide figure. This is partly due to
the geographic shape of the continent.
The main antropogenic drivers of coastal ecosystem
change are related to development activities on
land, particularly in areas adjacent to the coast.
Physical demand for coastal space is increasing, and
urban sprawl, resort and port development, and
aquaculture are leading to changes in factors directly
affecting ecosystems. Their impacts extend beyond
the direct footprints from pollution, sedimentation
and changes in coastal dynamics. Unsustainable
management practices, over-harvesting, climate
change and the associated sea level rise are also
important threats to coastal habitats, such as extensive
farmlands, wetlands and sea grass beds. The coast
is increasingly becoming a fragile, vulnerable area
whose environment suffers continuous degradation.
In this context, approximately 85 % of Europe's coasts
have been identified as a risk area (Bryant et al., 1995).
The socio-economic development of coasts is also
important. Despite some successes most coastal
regions are among the least economically developed
regions of the EU. In 1996, 19 out of the EU's 25 less
favoured areas were coastal regions. This continues
to be a key issue within an enlarged EU. Small
islands are especially affected by social and economic
problems (e.g. migration and lack of economic
infrastructure) (CPMR, 2005). Improving living
standards within coastal communities is therefore an
obvious challenge for coastal peripheral regions.
So far, development along the coasts has been based
on economic restructuring. This has mainly been
achieved through tourism and the associated boom
in construction, especially in the Mediterranean and
the Atlantic coasts. Other regions have given priority
to the economic restructuring of the fishing industry.
Alternatively, the increase in the number of harbours
and maritime transport has led to the armouring of
the coast.
Following the statement by the Conference of
Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), there has been
a real need 'to make an overall assessment of the
marine dimension of Europe's economy' (CPMR
(
10
) http://reports.eea.eu.int/technical_report_2005_1207_144937/en/EEA_Technical_report_7_2005.pdf accessed 01.03.2006.
Living by the sea
final declaration of its 2003 General Assembly).
CPMR also clearly recognises that there is a need for
better, homogenised data at regional level for the
entire European coast. In particular, socio-economic
data, which is well represented in spatial terms, are
still lacking. Therefore, it remains difficult to really
assess what is going on in relation to sustainable
development on the European coasts.
People who decide to live by the coast must take
into account the prevailing conditions, such as
the physical processes related to sea level rise and
the effects of storms, flooding and erosion. A risk
assessment of potential property damage from
coastal natural hazards and property damage
mitigation need to be addressed when living on
the coast. Living by the coast should be considered
as a responsibility, not just a privilege. It should
be coupled with the awareness that the coast is a
common asset. People not living by the coast but
using its resources, such as tourists, should also be
involved.
Therefore, the lifestyles and behaviour of people
living and working by the sea has to be guided
by both the coastal conditions themselves and
the required responsibility towards sustainable
development. In particular, there should be the
opportunity for people to adapt their behaviour to
extreme climatic events.
Water is becoming an important issue on the coast.
Scarcity of fresh water is a real challenge, especially
at a time when the conversion of the coast into built
up and artificial land cover is growing and intensive
agriculture is expanding. The risk of salination of
underground water reserve aquifers, mainly due to
overuse of water, is an issue particularly relevant in
the Mediterranean. For example, it affects Almeria,
Malta, Sicily, Cyprus and the Black Sea coasts. In
some areas, sea level rise will put more pressure on
freshwater availability because of aquifer salination.
Sea level rise will also be a challenge for a number of
coastal settlements and activities. Furthermore, the
development of coastal tourism leads to increased
water demand, especially during the peak season
when it increases the water deficit.
Changes in natural resources (e.g. fish stocks)
due to over-fishing will put higher pressures on
a number of coastal communities. Aquaculture
is not a clear alternative for all former fishing
regions. The Atlantic and North Sea coasts,
where highly industrialised fleets operate, have
developed a significant aquaculture sector. In the
Mediterranean, albeit among its more traditional
fisheries, aquaculture has also grown in recent
years. Aquaculture is controversial and data are not
available in sufficient amounts to measure the extent
to which former fishermen are engaged in this new
activity.
New ideas, such as attracting a specific type of
tourism to fishing villages and familiarising visitors
with the lifestyle, are emerging. If well organised,
these activities could provide economic alternatives
for communities.
For coastal safety, addressing both natural and
technological risks needs to be a priority. The
planning of coastal areas urgently needs to take into
account all potential risks, e.g. floods, forest fires, loss
of biodiversity, coastal erosion, maritime safety and
oil spills. Also, the health effects of environmental
pressures may pose risks to the coastal population
and species populations. Harmful algal blooms and
other pathogens affecting the health of both humans
and marine organisms are on the rise. Moreover, alien
invasive species have altered coastal ecosystems and
threaten both marine species and human well-being.
A priority is to consider the coastal interface as a
common asset for both local people and the whole
population. National coastal laws might help to
change social perception even if, in most cases, they
have not been sufficient to stop occupation on the
coast. For this reason, new concepts and instruments
for management and planning based on a priority
of common interest and not only on private interest
need to be developed.
The stability of ecosystem services is critical to the
functioning of coastal systems. They significantly
contribute to human well-being, and represent a
significant proportion of the total economic value of
coastal zones. It is important to stress that the coast
is not only a place to live or an issue of resource
and risk. It plays a key role in the functioning of the
planet. It provides a significant contribution to the
global life support system by supporting the entire
biosphere. For example, EU biotic marine resources
largely depend on the quality of the coastal zones. If
there are disruptions in these natural functions, the
processes of degradation will progressively accelerate
and will make any possible response from society
difficult. These natural functions cannot be replaced
by technology.
This issue not only concerns Member States, regions
and coastal cities but also people, business and
industry. The impact of ecosystem degradation
will be felt in the short-term, i.e. the next five years
and also in the long term. Furthermore, it will be
exacerbated by climate change.
Living by the sea
3.1.1 Climate change
Over the past century the average temperature has
risen by more than 0.6 C globally and by almost
1 C in Europe. Among the most visible impacts of
global warming are:
the rise in sea level due to thermal expansion of
ocean water;
melting glaciers and polar ice;
the changing frequency, intensity and spatial
pattern of precipitation, coastal storms and other
extreme weather events;
increasing stress on terrestrial and marine
ecosystems and species (EEA, 2005).
With the exception of parts of Scandinavia, the
rise in sea levels is evident already around most of
Europe's coasts. Typical values have been 1.11.3 mm
per year over the past 100 years (Nicholls and Klein,
2005, based on data from the Permanent Service for
Sea Level). Sea level rise should be coupled with
the increased risk of extreme storms. Despite the
fact that there is no evidence of a long-term trend in
the characteristics of storms in 20th century (WASA
Group 1998), the coasts are likely suffer from more
numerous and stronger storms with higher wave
height and sea floods. The latter will be aggravated
by river floods that will be fed by local storms. It will
be difficult for excess river waters to be discharged
into the seas with already raised water levels.
From a northern European perspective, the
formation of seasonal winter ice cover in the Baltic
has declined over the last 10 years due to rising sea
temperatures. This allows winter storms to cause
significantly more erosion than in the past (Kont
et al., 2004). As a result, the impact on flora and
fauna at the shoreline as well as sub-littoral is
occurring (Eionet consultation, Sweden).
Changes in ecosystems and the climate increase
the likelihood of unpredictable environmental
disruptions, such as a collapse of previously reliable
food sources, pest outbreaks, catastrophic floods or
the disappearance of economical valuable species.
As a result, the probability of sudden climate change
is increasing. This may lead to a significant loss of
biodiversity and socio-economic assets. Recently,
evidence has come to light of a weakened oceanic
thermo-haline circulation; part of which includes
the North Atlantic current. This brings warm water
north from the tropical Atlantic (Bryden et al., 2005).
Driven by salinity differences in the North Atlantic,
this process may be impacted upon by increasing
freshwater volumes released by melting polar ice
caps or greater precipitation and river discharge
into the critical region. Particularly important seems
to be the discharge of ice from the Greenland ice
shield. The outpouring of ice has nearly doubled
below 66 North between 1996 and 2000 (Rignot and
Kanagaratnam, 2006). As more glaciers accelerate
farther north, the contribution of Greenland to sea
level rise will continue to increase.
For coastal areas, it is not the global mean sea level
that matters, but the locally observed, relative sea
level. This takes into account regional sea level
variations and vertical movements of the land. A
major uncertainty is how sea level rise will manifest
itself at regional level, such as in the North Atlantic
and related European regional seas. The lack of
similarity in projections of different models in
regional sea level change suggests that possible sea
level rise around Europe's coasts could be +/ 50 %
of the global mean changes (Nicholls and Klein,
2005). This uncertainty needs to be taken into
account in impact analysis.
Land uplift and subsidence may also be significant.
Parts of Scandinavia and Estonia experience
land uplift due to global-isostatic adjustment.
Furthermore, the relative sea level may continue to
fall, albeit at a lower rate (Kont et al., 2003). Other
areas, such as deltas and coastal lowlands are
characterised by the strong downward movement
of the land, which will add to global-mean sea level
rise. This subsidence is often greatly enhanced
by land claim, reduced sediment discharge and
groundwater abstraction. Consequently, the water
table lowers, for example around the North Sea.
Human induced subsidence in 20th century has led
to 2 300 km
2
of land falling below sea level along
the North Italian coastal plain (different sources in
Nicholls and Klein, 2005).
According to the framework of analysis for climate
change impacts around Europe's coasts (Nicholls
and Klein, 2005), the vulnerability of coastal systems
to sea level rise and other drivers of change is
determined by sensitivity, exposure and adaptive
capacity. 'Sensitivity' reflects each system's potential
to be affected by changes such as sea level rise, and
'exposure' defines the nature and amount to which
a system is exposed to climate change. 'Adaptive
capacity' describes the system's stability in the
face of change. Concerning the role of dynamic
interaction that occurs between the natural and
socio-economic systems in the coastal zone, authors
emphasise the dynamic nature and capacity of both
systems for adaptation. Hence, impact assessment
that does not take adaptation, both spontaneous and
planned, into account will generally overestimate
impacts (i.e. by determining potential rather than
Living by the sea
actual impact). However, beyond that, the realistic
assessment of adaptation options requires detailed
analysis in order to capture the potential variation
in responses. At regional level, it may be worth
protecting the whole coast, while abandoning
individual flood compartments at local level. For
example, 20 % of individual flood compartments
could be abandoned at present rates of sea level rise.
This stresses the importance of assessment scale for
coastal management. The importance of multiple
assessment scales is confirmed by a general finding
of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment which says,
'...the scale at which an assessment is undertaken
significantly influences the problem definition and
assessment results, as well as the solutions and
responses selected.' (MEA, 2005a).
Proactive adaptation to climate change aims
to reduce the system's vulnerability by either
minimising risk or maximising adaptive capacity.
The following IPCC classification of three basic
adaptation strategies is often used (Nicholls and
Klein, 2005):
protect to reduce the risk of the event by
decreasing the probability of it's occurrence;
accommodate to increase society's ability to
cope with the effects of the event;
retreat to reduce the risk of the event by
limiting its potential.
Protecting coastal zones against sea level rise and
other climatic changes would involve increasing
long term investment and the robustness of
infrastructural designs, such as seawalls and other
coastal infrastructure. A strategy to accommodate
sea level rise could include increasing the flexibility
of managed systems such as agriculture, tourism
and human settlements in coastal zones. A retreat
strategy would serve to enhance the adaptability of
coastal wetlands, by allowing them space to migrate
to higher land as the sea level rises.
The effects of climate change and associated sea
level raise threaten economic sectors on the coasts
to a varying degree. Adapted from McLean et al.
Threat category Impacts
Risk to life and
economic assets
Increased loss of property
Increased flood risk and potential loss of life
Damage to coastal protection works and other infrastructure
Supporting ecosystem
services
Loss of renewable and subsistence resources
Loss of tourism, recreation and transportation functions
Impacts on agriculture and aquaculture through decline in soil and water quality
Non-material Loss of non-monetary cultural resources and values
(2001) the following socio-economic impacts can be
identified in the table below.
Modified from Nicholls and Klein (2005), the major
conclusions concerning climate change and long-
term management of the European coastal zone are
as follows:
1. Climate change and variability are already an
issue and future climate change is expected to be
greater than any other in human history.
2. The potential impacts on human systems will be
significant, especially due to increased flood risk
and storm damage in low-lying areas. Intertidal
habitats and ecosystems are also threatened.
3. Coastal zones will face many other pressures
during the 21st century. These will interact with
climate change and exacerbate or ameliorate
vulnerability to climate change.
4. The actual impacts of climate change are highly
uncertain, but success in human adaptation to
that change and appropriate proactive measures
could help avoid or manage effectively many of
the impacts.
5. There is a fundamental conflict between
protecting socio-economic activity and
sustaining the ecological functioning of coastal
zones in Europe under conditions of rising sea
levels. Obstructed by fixed sea defences, natural
ecosystems cannot migrate onshore as a natural
response to sea level rise. Sustaining coastal
zones requires softer protection, managed
retreat and possibly accommodation strategies
in coastal management policy.
6. Global sea levels are likely to continue to
rise for many centuries irrespective of future
greenhouse gas emissions. Coastal management
and land use planning should prepare for
these changes, recognising the long-term
commitment to adapt.
The key questions for Europe's coastal zones is:
Are present practices reducing the vulnerability of
coastal zones to climate change impacts? What is
the role of proactive and reactive (or 'wait-and-see')
adaptation policies?
Living by the sea

Box 12 Sea level change affecting the spatial development in the Baltic Sea region
case study: Prnu, Estonia
Prnu is located on the Baltic coast in west Estonia and has a long history as a health resort and tourist
location. During recent years the tourism sector has grown rapidly. The number of beds for tourist
accommodation increased from 1 319 in January 2002 to 3 379 in April 2004. The number of overnight
stays more than doubled from 240 000 in 2002 to 500 000 in 2003. Among the 50 biggest companies are
five centres for health and rehabilitation, employing about 1 100 employees (2003).
The 'high case' scenario with a sea level rise (SLR) of 104 cm by 2100 shows significant impact on the
service sector, groundwater and protected nature areas. The impact on the service sector and protected
areas can be ascribed to the loss of large sections of the coasts. The impact on the water supply is limited
to the areas with no public water supply and no sewage system.
So far, there has been low awareness about SLR, and thus stakeholders have remained unprepared.
Nature protection along the coast helps to keep infrastructure constructions and buildings away from the
endangered areas, but there are no mitigation strategies to cope with the impact on the coastal area
itself. Currently SLR could affect the water supply of Prnu considerably because several areas are neither
connected to the public water supply nor the sewage system. Short- and mid-term planning does not take
SLR into consideration yet. However, there is an incentive to complete public water supply and sewage
system regardless of the impact of future SLR.
In the event of a 100-year storm surge nearly all parts of daily life would be affected. Although the impact
could be significant, the level of vulnerability is relatively low. In contrast to SLR, flooding is a recurrent
event people are aware of. Flooding events are taken into account when constructing new buildings and
protecting existing ones. If a 100-year flood is combined with the 'high case' scenario of 104 cm, SLR the
projected water levels could reach 3 m above the present (19611990) mean sea surface. This will directly
affect 25 % of the current city area. The winter storms on 8 and 9 January 2005 were one of the most
severe in the last 100 years. The highest water level recorded during this storm was about 2.8 m, and large
areas of Prnu were flooded.
Water levels in 2100 relative to mean sea surface height 1961 to 1990
Scenario Low case Ensemble average High case
Ah (cm) Area (km
2
) Area ( %) Ah (cm) Area (km
2
) Area ( %) Ah (cm) Area (km
2
) Area ( %)
SLR 5 0.29 1 52 1.69 5 104 3.03 10
SLR +
100-year
flood
201 5.26 17 248 6.48 21 300 7.87 25
Impacts on residential areas in Prnu in the 'high case' scenario and a 100-year storm surge

Source: SEAREG (See www.gtk.fi/projects/seareg accessed 19.10.2005). Contributing authors: Michael Staudt and
Johannes Klein, GTK.
Living by the sea
On the one hand, strategic proactive policies can
be developed that effectively manage the threats
and fully exploit the opportunities provided by the
changing climate and socio-economic conditions. An
alternative strategy would be a 'no strategy', where
this issue is ignored. This would maximise our
vulnerability to climate change. A recent European
survey suggested the latter approach is the norm
(Tol et al., 2004), but some countries have since then
developed national climate change strategies.
3.1.2 High rates of coastal development
Where the coastal strip has already been developed,
a rapid process of saturation occurs. This affects not
only the Mediterranean but also other coastal areas
along the Atlantic, the North Sea, the southern Baltic
Sea and the Black Sea.
This situation is complex due to a series of different
drivers (e.g. city harbours and logistics, tourism
fluxes, external and internal demand for property on
the coast and land abandonment inland). Moreover,
it has made the coast extremely attractive for people
and leisure activities. This is a general trend for
Europe, but not uniform along all coasts. Sometimes
peripheral coastal regions with stagnating living
standards and prevailing de-population exist back to
back with highly prosperous areas. Such a dichotomy
is observed between under-exploited and abandoned
areas, and areas under development along the
Baltic and the Atlantic coast where the population is
increasing. It is also pertinent to the North Sea and
the Mediterranean. Therefore, enclaves of poverty
exist along the coast from the Mediterranean to the
Baltic, Atlantic and Black Sea, coexisting with huge
urban, residential and tourism developments.
Transformation of the coast into artificial land
cover has a major impact on both the socio-
economic fabric and the environment. In the past,
the intensification of coastal uses was based on the
conventional economic model of growth, where
infrastructure development (e.g. harbours, railways
and road networks) drove the coastal economy. This
development attracted labour, and urbanisation
followed.
Today, large parts of the coast follow a different
development model based on a very high degree
of land conversion to artificial surfaces. This
development is often decoupled from population
growth and driven by the demands of tourism; the
most dynamic economic sector on the coast.
In the coastal regions of France, for instance, the
tourism sector has clearly become the dominant
activity, according to analysis from IFREMER. It
represents up to 44 % of the added income. Tourism
adds 12 times more income than fisheries, 15 times
more than harbours and 8 times more than maritime
fleets (DATAR, 2004).
Coasts show a concentration of territorial occupation
when compared to inland areas. In 2000 the share of
area covered by artificial surfaces was 25 % higher
along the coasts than in inland areas. This confirms
19902000 trends in European coastal zones, which
show that the growth rate of artificial surfaces on the
coast have grown about 1/3 faster than those inland.
At the same time, the population on the coasts has
only grown a 1/4 faster than total population.
Between 1995 and 2025, the projected coastal zone
urbanisation on some Mediterranean coastlines
shows built-up occupation increasing from 55 % to
73 % in Spain, 24 % and 34 % in France and 38 % to
45 % in Italy, respectively (Blue Plan, 2005).
This report shows that the rates of population growth
are higher on coastal strips than inland and are also
increasing in the coastal hinterlands (for definitions
see Section 1.1). The highest population increases
have taken place in Ireland, and along the Atlantic
rim in France, in some coastal regions in Portugal and
on the Mediterranean coast of Spain and France. A
significant increase in population has also occurred
around urban areas of the Baltic Sea in southern
Sweden, Poland and southern Finland.
Housing, services (including tourism, commercial/
logistical areas and transport infrastructures) and
recreation are the main activities responsible for the
process of land conversion to artificial surfaces. 61 %
of all land take by artificial surfaces is due to these
factors.
Many of Europe's capital cities are on or close to the
coast, including Amsterdam, Athens, Copenhagen,
Dublin, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Oslo, Riga, Rome,
Stockholm, Tallinn and Valetta. In total, there are
about 280 coastal cities with a population above
50 000.
The predominant pattern of residential urbanisation
is diffuse settlements adjacent to or disconnected
from concentrated urban centres. Residential
sprawl is on average responsible for more than
45 % of coastal zone land transformation into
artificial surfaces. There is an increasing demand for
investment in coastal residences due to tourism and
leisure from northern Europe. In addition, there is
also domestic demand from the inland population,
e.g. the retired.
Living by the sea
Residential expansion began in some areas of the
Mediterranean regions 30 years ago (e.g.Riviera,
Costa del Sol and Costa Brava). In the past 10
years this expansion has spread to the coasts of
other regional seas, for example the Atlantic coast
(Portugal, France, Ireland), the southern North Sea
(the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark) and the
Baltic (Estonia and Poland). Residential sprawl on
coastal land is also notable around urban areas in
Sweden.
The pressure on the coasts of Sweden, especially
in the archipelago areas, comes mainly from the
building of summer cottages. The population here
is mostly seasonal. During the summer months
outdoor recreation is very intensive on islands
close to urban areas, for example with domestic
and international tourists using recreational boats.
The population in the Stockholm and Gothenburg
archipelagos increases substantially during the
summer months (Eionet consultation, Sweden).
As a result of a French assessment, the regulation
of urban sprawl on the coast is now a priority issue.
However, obtaining regulation is very difficult
(DATAR, 2004). The desire to own a house or an
apartment with a sea view is an extremely attractive
and leads to a continuous build-up along the
seashore. If left only to market forces the increased
demand for coastal properties would result in
rapid occupation of all available land on the coast.
Planning should better regulate the sprawl of built-
up areas. But in some countries local planning
allows people to build anywhere. This results from
the need for tax revenues. For local governments
the build up is often perceived to be the only way to
gain revenues for financing municipal services. Such
a financial model should be reviewed in the light of
spatial planning and sustainable development.
At the same time, demand for waterfront property
and resulting high prices of land near the shore have
made housing economically inaccessible to people
permanently living by the coast. This especially
affects young people and public employees, who
cannot afford to live nearby. Their housing demand
moves to the coastal hinterland or further inland.
As a result, the social fabric of local communities
deteriorates and also commuter transport demand is
added.
Due to this new demand, property prices are rising
in the coastal hinterland and expansion of artificial
areas continues in some distance from the coastal
strip. In the North Sea and the Mediterranean this
process began 30 years ago. The same process
has been taking place along the Atlantic coast for
15 years and is also now beginning in some parts of
the southern Baltic Sea.
Residential urban sprawl is changing the patterns of
mobility and lifestyles, and transforming the space
of social relations. For instance, individual means
of transport are needed to travel within residential
quarters. It is a system which promotes dependency
on the private car and the associated problems, e.g.
high consumption of energy, travel time spent in
traffic, noise pollution, vulnerability to accidents
etc. These are all aspects that affect the daily life of
local people. Moreover, there is usually unequal
accessibility to places for different social classes and
groups due to varying limits of mobility (Jourdan,
2003).
It is clear that access to highways has become
a preferred place to locate new residential and
logistical areas. Proximity to the transport network
has become crucial, and accessing services,
supermarkets and work places are all served by
highways or specific belt roads. Therefore, transport
infrastructure development is an important driver of
sprawl of artificial surfaces on the coast. Today, these
standard service facilities are built in many parts of
Europe, not only on the coast. However, they show a
higher density in narrow coastal zones.
As land is a scarce resource in coastal areas, these
infrastructures have a high share of land take.
The application of a similar design and style for
new construction and common leisure services
(aquatic parks, golf courses, cart circuits etc.)
are transforming coastal areas into anonymous
peri-urban landscapes devoid of any character. As a
result, these areas risk losing their local identity and
becoming standardised, artificial spaces for service
provision.
Coastal urbanisation and urban sprawl in coastal
zones is no longer necessarily induced and
supported by the main coastal cities. By its nature,
urban land use along the coasts has become
suburban. This new phenomenon, which challenges
the state of the environment and sustainability of
the coastal areas, is recognised by coastal managers
across Europe (CPMR, 2005).
3.1.3 Tourism development
Rapid acceleration in the use of coastal space
is mostly driven by the recreation industry.
Conventional tourism trends are especially well
represented along the Mediterranean coast. The
French Riviera has attracted tourism since the
Living by the sea
beginning of the 20th century. Also, the Costa del
Sol and Costa Brava (Spain) developed significantly
during the 1950s and 1960s due to the demand for
high quality holidays. This led to the combined
development of accommodation, infrastructure and
leisure facilities, such as golf courses and marinas.
In general, significant development has occurred
over the past 20 years. The fashionability of these
areas and the growth of the middle class in Europe
and abroad have boosted this development.
As a result, rapid growth has occurred. This
development sprawls to the south and south-
eastern Mediterranean, creating a 'Med wall' with
'more than 50 % dominance of concrete along the
coast' (UNEP/EEA, 2005). In the last 10 years, the
Mediterranean urban tourism model has been
mirrored in many other coastal areas in Europe,
such as Brittany, the south Baltic and around the
Black Sea.
Northern European cities now emulate the south
with bars, cafes, restaurants and outdoor terraces
(e.g. coastal urban and harbour restructuring in
Stockholm, Gdansk and Hamburg). However,
the Mediterranean continues to be the major
attraction. Sun, urban beaches and lower prices,
especially for food and wine, are the key reasons
for the continuous pressure being put on the
Mediterranean.
In addition, growth in short-break holidays is
taking place. Low fare airlines can take people to
Mediterranean resorts at rates cheaper than ever
before, which adds to the already huge amount of
air passenger traffic.
At the same time, other new European destinations
represent competition to the more established and
saturated Spanish, Italian and French Mediterranean
destinations. These new destinations should be
viewed more as an opportunity than a threat as they
help to de-concentrate the southern coasts. Most of
these new coastal destinations are accessible by low
cost flights to secondary and regional airports all
along Europe's coasts.
These airport infrastructures should also be valued
for their economic activity and jobs. The concerned
regions are generally very open and positive to
airport construction, especially in less favoured
areas. Several studies highlight the benefits of
low fare airports to regional airports and regions
(European Low Fares Airlines Association (
11
)).
These studies emphasise the increases in tourism,
employment and influx of businesses to the region
which have resulted from the increased number
of destinations offered by airports. Airports like
Charleroi, Frankfurt Hahn and many others are
located in underdeveloped regions, many of which
lie on the coasts. The growth of the airport has
facilitated regional regeneration.
Too often new holiday destinations along the
coasts of new Member States or accession countries
develop according to the same intensive tourism

Box 13 Case study: the Maltese Islands
At European level it is difficult to see the growth in built up areas that Malta has experienced so far.
This suggests that the Maltese coast is not under too much pressure, and sends the wrong message
that further artificialisation and urbanisation of the coast can continue. There is however significant
development pressure on the coast which is threatening not only the physical environment but also
leading to conflicts amongst its users.
Malta has been a tourist destination since 1960s and is now looking to be more competitive in the
face of new destinations with fresher appeal and more territories. The Maltese islands have promoted
the coastal environment as a main tourist attraction and subsequently the measures taken over the
years to build up a strong tourism industry have been directed towards coastal development. Tourism
infrastructure related to the coast is mainly associated with the availability of accommodation in terms
of hotels and holiday apartments. The trend for developing coastal areas for tourism accommodation
has eaten up extensive areas that were previously used or could have been promoted for recreational
purposes, e.g. walking or bathing. This trend has undermined the available space for informal recreation,
even for visiting tourists, and is an issue on an island where the only open space is the coastal
environment (MEPA, 2002).
Source: MEPA (See www.mepa.org.mt/index.htm?spr/topics_coastal.htm&l accessed 08.06.2005) (Coastal Strategy, Topic
Paper 2002).
(
11
) www.elfaa.com/publications.htm accessed 20.01.2005.
Living by the sea
model. In many places, the coastal resources and
landscapes are of very high natural value. This is
the case, for instance, on the coastlines of Croatia
and Turkey as well as on some small islands like
Malta. Achieving an equilibrium between local
development, habitat protection and landscape
quality is the key to the sustainable future of
these new coastal destinations. This is a clear
recommendation to be taken into account by policy
makers, especially for the ICZM.
Domestic tourism grows practically at the same
rate as international tourism on the coasts of
western Europe. The growth in GDP has given rise
to a middle class buying second homes or using a
significant portion of their disposable income on
short breaks in Europe. There has been a boom in
demand for country houses and summer cottages
because they are a good investment and offer new
holiday opportunities for families.
Other forms of tourism or leisure, both national and
international, are also gaining momentum. These
forms include cultural activities such as the wine-
tasting, gastronomy, pilgrimages, health, ornithology
and photography.
These more specialised forms of tourism and leisure
activities are not as intensive as mass tourism and
provide more stable economic returns to local
communities. Moreover, they better respect the local
culture and landscapes and help people experience
other European cultures. In general, they are more
oriented towards natural and cultural heritage.
Development of this kind of tourism can prove to be
more sustainable for coastal landscapes in the long
term.
'Sustainable tourism', 'eco-tourism' and 'green tourism'
have been promoted over the past decade as ways of
obtaining environmental benefits from tourism while
at the same time providing much needed jobs and
social investment. Counting the amount of tourist
accommodation which qualifies for an eco-label is
a crude yet relatively easy way to measure current
progress towards greater sustainability. Unfortunately,
only a small number of eco-labelling schemes are
independently assessed, and hence claims about
environmentally friendly goods and services must be
treated cautiously (DEDUCE project).
In some coastal regions important navigation and
boating traditions are key. For example, sailing
schools have been active for many years in Brittany
and La Rochelle in France, the United Kingdom,
Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. In Sweden
sail boats are used very intensively amongst the
archipelagos islands. It is often a sustainable way for
transport to travel from Stockholm to small cottages
near the coast or to visit different islands. In Spain,
Figure 15 Eco-labelled tourist accommodation in coastal and non-coastal
NUTS3 regions (2005)
Source: EEA, 2005, based on data from Eco-label link (See www.eco-label-tourism.com accessed 16.10.2005), Emas link (See
www.eu.int/comm/environment/emas/index_en.htm accessed 18.10.2005) and Yourvisit link (See www.yourvisit.info/
index_gb.html accessed 19.10.2005).
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Coastal NUTS3 Non-coastal NUTS3
Living by the sea
this tradition is not as old, and has only recently
started to gain momentum. With the exception of boat
enthusiasts, newly built marinas and enlarged old
marinas serve more as status symbols and garages
for boats. The function of marinas in southern Europe
is related more to a demand from a growing middle
class than a maritime culture.
Maritime archaeology is increasingly becoming
popular. The potential for developing this activity
is great and the opportunity to use it as a positive
recreational resource is significant. However,
assessment and control are required.
Tourism creates significant pressures on coastal
water resources. For example, demand for water in
Malta doubles during the tourist season, while on
the Greek island of Patmos it increases sevenfold.
Many regions, including Spanish resorts and
Malta, are running out of water and are resorting to
investment in the desalination of sea water (EEA,
2005). Pressure on water resources, climate change
and an increased need for air conditioning in
tourism related facilitates put greater demands on
the coast.
Another pressure coming from the leisure and
tourism industry is the golf course. The construction
of numerous golf courses along the coast and the
associated urban development, exacerbates property
speculation (e.g. in Algarve, Portugal, in Spain
and Italy). Golf courses are important consumers

Box 14 Impact of marinas on the European coast
Yacht harbours have a serious negative impact on the environment due to the consumption of land,
degradation of surrounding shallow waters, disturbance of the dynamics of coastal currents and chemical
pollution, according to the Blue Plan.
Marinas have serious externalities as they constitute barriers for littoral drift. They also retain the sediments
upstream, which induces significant local erosion down drift. Even boats that only go out 34 days per year
disturb habitats which are inaccessible by other means, e.g. rocky coves. Damage can be done to these
areas in a variety of ways. For example, anchor impacts on sea-grasses.
These activities are very important along the Mediterranean coast. For example, 250 000 supplementary
moorings would satisfy the demand on the French Mediterranean coast; a demand which has grown from
1.5 to 2.6 % per year in the French Mediterranean coast (AFIT, 2003). Moreover, marinas are developing
quickly in new Member States, such as Malta or Croatia. Boating has also major implications for the
terrestrial coast, as infrastructures are built to keep boats out of the water. These dry harbours add to the
artificialisation of the coast.
Source: Blue Plan, 2005.
Other negative impacts of boating reported in Sweden and other places include disturbances due to boat
bottom colour, noise, and wear and tear. Anchorage, waste and illegal sub aquatic fishing are another
typology of the widespread problems associated with recreational boating (Eionet consultation, Sweden).
of herbicides, nitrates and water, especially in the
south where it is difficult for grass to grow without
these inputs. Even though golf courses may be
more aesthetically pleasing and blend in with the
landscape, they represent a simplification of the
ecosystem (except in the case where local vegetation
is respected).
The ageing EU population has led to new emerging
trends, such as a high demand for houses in regions
where people's family roots lie (e.g. Brittany in
France). This situation is exacerbated by retired
people from northern Europe moving to the south.
As a result, these places have special facilities, such
as hotels specialised in providing leisure activities
for retired persons (e.g. excursions, sport, dance and
cinema).
All these developments are approved and even
promoted in most regional planning, as the market
economy is prioritised over environmental concerns.
Planning objectives are too often focused on satisfying
demand of private needs instead of managing
demand, bringing more quality activities and adding
value to the region. Good short-term returns on
private investments are too often prioritised. This has
a tremendous impact on common natural resources
and the local socio-cultural fabric in the long-term.
Coastal development and tourism intensification
are leading to the over frequentation of natural sites
both on land and at sea. This is a main issue in areas
Living by the sea
with high value ecosystems. Frequentation of a high
number of people impacts on fragile coastal systems.
This is exacerbated by new motorised forms of
leisure (e.g. all-terrain vehicles, mopeds, scooters)
which are more destructive when used on dunes,
lidos and forest paths. Erosion, distressing animals
and other impacts are the results of these activities.
It is worth noting that 90 % of forest fires are caused
by man. Diving activities without control can also
deeply alter underwater ecosystems, especially
when coupled with illegal gathering of coral or
catches of fish.
These impacts create many externalities that
ultimately local communities have to pay for.
Integrated management and planning of the coast
should try to regulate the failures of the market.
It should also promote policies to internalise
externalities. For example, sand volumes extracted
during construction of a marina could be replaced
by developers following the criteria of the Strategic
Environmental Assessment. For example, a pool of
public land could be created to allow protection and
low cost housing policies could be devised. Urgent
work needs to be dedicated to these topics and
also to the applicability of eco-taxes as a financing
source.
3.1.4 Agriculture
Agriculture is a significant, albeit declining, source
of employment on the EU's coasts. This activity has
been very important historically in coastal areas,
and has often been coupled with fishing activities.
Nowadays, agriculture in coastal areas continues
to be extremely relevant because it plays an
essential role for production, supporting the multi-
functionality of coastal areas. It also has a crucial
role in the maintenance of coastal rural landscapes
and the conservation of biodiversity. Landscape
management introduces many opportunities for
tourism activities, local employment and the fresh
food market.
Understanding the specifics of coastal agriculture
and its evolution is critical. The vast heritage and
traditional practices in rural areas have often
provided the best examples of true sustainable
development. Complex analysis of these territories
and activities is of paramount importance to
understanding the relevance of the sector in the
wider context of coastal land use. This importance
is reflected by the level of funding ascribed to the
areas by the EU.
Agriculture areas are shrinking as a result of
farmland abandonment. This gives rise and
affords area for afforestation. Coastal agriculture
also suffers important urban pressures. Almost
2 000 km
2
of agricultural lands were lost in all
coastal zones, at various rates in different European
coastal countries between 1990 and 2000. On the
Mediterranean coast, important internal changes
are on-going as extensive agriculture is replaced
by intensive agriculture in, for example, Almera or
Levante in Spain and the southern regions of Italy,
Greece and Cyprus.
General problems found within the EU's territory
(e.g. a decrease in the number of farmers, ageing
farming communities, lack of continuity and
increasing of land prices) are often much more
intense along the coast. In France, an indicator
has been developed to assess the vulnerability of
farms in social and economic terms (IFEN, 2005).
Conditions differ along the coast, and there are clear
contrasts between areas where agriculture prospers
and where it does not (see Box 15).
Areas of mixed farming, pasture and wetlands
promote more biodiversity and also maintain
traditional practices as part of coastal management.
The disappearance of these practices also represents
a loss of cultural heritage (e.g. specific knowledge
on soil management, loss of traditional products and
landscape transformation). Moreover, a number of
practices including the management of periodically
flooded meadows happens to be excellent adaptive
action against flooding and produces good quality
milk and meat. These practices are relevant in the
United Kingdom, France and Spain, for instance.
Market forces (e.g. land prices, specific demand
and high investments), the regulation of certain
agriculture sectors (milk, olive oil production and
dry fruits etc.) and practices (e.g. set-aside
intensification) are drivers of agricultural
change on the coast. In areas where agricultural
production produces benefits, e.g. in high quality
wine production areas, landscapes are fairly well
maintained. The region of Peneds, Spain remains
predominantly agricultural despite urban pressures
from Barcelona and the coastal location. This also
prevents urban sprawl moving into the coastal
hinterland.
Agricultural areas strong enough to resist urban
pressures are those that provide high revenue.
Therefore, the most intensive agriculture (e.g.
flowers, seeds, fresh vegetables, 'primeurs') is
located on the coast. This type of agriculture also
demands natural resources often found on the
coast, such as sandy soils, groundwater and long
periods of sunshine throughout the year. Intensive
Living by the sea

Box 15 Agriculture on the French coast
In France a correlation exists between the type of agriculture on the coast and the orientation of
production. More fragile farming exists within areas of extensive animal production (e.g. Manche, Basque
Country, Corsica) or areas of viticulture without AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controle) (Hrault). The
more prosperous farming sectors are those dedicated to intensive monoculture (Nord-Pas de Calais, Seine
Maritime), intensive pig farming (Brittany) or cultures with high added-value (e.g. high quality wines in
Bordeaux region and Var, flower cultures in the Cote d'Azur, and horticulture in Corsica). To summarise,
agriculture is less prosperous in rural areas where mixed farming and pastures are dominant, such as along
the coasts of lower Normandy, Corsica and the Atlantic wetlands areas. Other farms in a similar precarious
state are also located in urbanised and/or tourist areas where land prices are high, e.g. south of Charente
Maritime, sud Aquitaine, Languedoc-Roussillon and PACA coastal areas.
Socio-economic typology of agricultural farms in the French coast

Source: IFEN, 2005.
agriculture and greenhouses, which are typical of
the Mediterranean coast, represent controversial
forms of agriculture because they are often
considered as intensive as industrial activity.
Conversion to artificial land cover is sealing fertile
coastal soils in Europe, especially along the coasts
of the Mediterranean, Portugal and the North
Sea. This is either occurring in an irreversible way
or is very costly to reverse. Moreover, it spoils
good agricultural soils for centuries. The sealing
of soil often affects areas of water recharge for
groundwater reservoirs and also areas vulnerable to
flooding or coastal erosion. As a result, this increases
the vulnerability of settlements.
In Mediterranean areas, it is estimated that
agriculture uses around 80 % of the available
water resources. Water shortages, especially
during summer months, make the building of new

Box 16 Urban wastewater recuperation in Empuriabrava
As water is scarce in summer, conflicts develop between agriculture and the tourism industry. In Europe's
biggest marina, Empuriabrava, conflicts have been transformed into opportunities. A specific system of
recuperation of urban wastewater of the 90 000 people living in the resort in summer has been put in
place with the help of EU funds. After secondary treatment, wastewater is sent to a lagoon system with
vegetation filters and is then used to maintain the water level of certain wetlands. These wetlands are the
only ones with water during the dry season. As a result, this action creates both specific habitats for birds
and resources for environmental education which tourists can enjoy.
Source: Baradad i Baldom, O., 2004.
Sensitive situation
Favourable situation
Living by the sea

Box 17 Llobregat's delta agricultural park
Agricultural parks protect land from urban sprawl. Moreover, they promote agriculture to young people with
a view to keeping them within the sector and managing the environment. In the Llobregat delta, Barcelona
water is obtained through a very special system. Once treated in the huge new wastewater plant at the
mouth of the river, water is pumped up the hill, and fed down irrigation channels. This practice helps avoid
the direct loss of treated water into the sea. Moreover, when coupled with an environmentally friendly
system of production it integrates new forms of pest and nutrients control.This lowers nitrate release into
surface waters. In addition, the treated water ensures a good water level in the nearby lagoons and other
wetlands of the delta. The practice is also used to recharge the underground water reservoir. Producers are
organised within an agricultural park. They take advantage of the proximity of the city to sell directly their
horticulture production, which provides an opportunity for consumers to get fresh, quality produce.
Source: ETC-TE expert judgment based on: Breton, F.; Tulla, A.F.; Sempere, J.; 2001.

Box 18 Restoring a multi-functional rural economy in the Vinameri coastal region
A project has been implemented in the Vinameri coastal region in western Estonia to return the area to a
multifunctional landscape after a Soviet legacy of large scale, specialised, collective production. The project
brought back extensive agriculture, based on high natural values, optimal grazing of coastal meadows and
low use of artificial fertilisers and chemical. At the same time, other actions were proposed in the region
for non-agricultural sectors to use the area's nature and culture as base for production. Rural tourism,
handicrafts, bio-energy and local fisheries have developed which are bringing important complementary
revenue sources and employment opportunities. As a result, the natural value of the area looks likely to be
maintained in the long term.
Source: Kokovkin, 2005.
desalination plants along the coasts necessary. Most
of the water from these plants goes to agriculture.
The impact of these installations includes the
local concentration of salt in coastal waters, which
threatens underwater biotopes, and the emission of
carbon dioxide.
Sustainable agriculture helps to balance areas
(i.e. as a buffer against urbanisation, landscape
management, multi-functionality instead of a
tourism monoculture) and manage soils, climate,
hydrological conditions, traditional products and
genetic assets. It also helps local communities
retain traditional knowledge. Emergent trends
point to the importance of agriculture as a support
for new forms of tourism and leisure. Furthermore,
it facilitates and promotes educational activities
which focus on the area and its ecosystems.
Some initiatives have had a positive result. The
development of agri-environmental operations in
France, implemented under Regulation 2078/92,
had a strong ecological dimension. For example,
the overall impact of 20 programmes targeting the
coastal marshes has been positive. Improvements
in the management of threatened natural pastures
has taken place, and marshland biodiversity,
especially the general habitat type, has benefited
(EEA, 1999b).
Another positive trend is organic farming, which
represented 1 % of agricultural holdings in 1996,
and has grown considerably. For example, in
Sweden it grew from less than 10 000 ha to more
than 160 000 ha between 1985 and 1996 (Eurostat,
1998). Since 1998 the share of arable soils under
organic farming has doubled to 3.8 million ha.
A significant part of this surface represents the
agriculture on the coasts and archipelagos islands.
Taking into account these figures, Sweden has one
of the highest shares of organic farming among the
coastal countries of Europe (EEA, 2005).
3.1.5 Industry and energy production
Many industries are located on the coast since their
activity is strongly linked to the sea. The sea is the
main transport route for certain goods, like oil, and
harbours and rivers are also important transport
hubs.
Living by the sea
Coastal industries are mainly related to the maritime
sector, such as shipbuilding. These coastal activities
are important in the Atlantic (e.g. St. Nazaire,
France; Bilbao and Cadiz, Spain), the North Sea (e.g.
Belfast and others in the United Kingdom), and
the Baltic Sea (e.g. Gdansk, Poland). Competition
resulting from globalisation has led to economic
decline and the moving of these activities to other
countries. This has led to significant structural
unemployment and other socio-economic problems
in coastal regions. As a result, these situations need
to receive specific attention in different coastal
areas. The new aid framework for shipbuilding,
which came into force on 1 January 2004, was a
step forward as it made this sector eligible for
aid for innovation (CPRM Expert comment). For
example the Gdansk area in Poland has taken a new
strategic line oriented towards urban renovation,
based on its cultural heritage, and supported by the
construction of a new dynamic airport. Now, the
city is an upcoming tourist destination in Europe.
Urban tourism is often a very convenient response
to economic problems and unemployment in
traditional industries. However, it must be planned
in a sustainable way, so that it avoids the growth in
urban sprawl.
Coastal industries are becoming more and more
linked to the harbour functions of logistics and 'just
in time' working practices. These services are located
in areas served by highways and within easy reach
of the main harbours. They depend on harbours
for both receiving pre-assembled components from
Asia, and for easy export of finished products to
other markets.
The relationship between industry and harbour
activities is becoming more critical. The main
harbours have been restructured and enlarged to
serve the new needs of these industries. Investment
in harbours has been crucial for the development of
harbour-cities and regional hinterlands. Competition
between them has been very fierce, as attracting
multi-national shipping companies is the key to
becoming a multi-mode hub and a main door for
European industries and markets. Competition
has occurred between Rotterdam and Antwerp, St.
Nazaire and Nantes and Genova, Marseilles and
Barcelona. Sustainable development of these port
areas is urgent. The development of all existing
ports is neither desirable in terms of environment
and landscape conservation nor is it economically
realistic (CPMR, September 2005).
Therefore, more precise and better enforced
planning of harbours is needed at EU level. This
should present an alternative to current laissez-
faire market forces, and offer a rational network of
harbours well connected with multimode links to
their hinterlands (Eionet consultation, DG ENV).
This planning should be integrated with the issue
of environmental conservation, most notably under
Natura2000 network, when land is needed to extend
port areas (CPMR, September 2005).
Energy demand is increasing in coastal areas
because of the concentration of industries,
population and tourism. Located offshore, oil
extraction platforms and related services provide
a living in some coastal regions, especially in the
North Sea. Aberdeen is a city whose economic
development has been closely linked to the oil
industry. However, this activity has important
environmental consequences.
Oil refining has also been associated with harbours,
where the direct arrival of pipelines and oil tankers
from oil extraction sites make the transfer between
transportation modes easier. Marseille/Fos in France
and Huelva and Algeciras in Spain have significant
refinery infrastructures.
The more polluting processes of oil transformation
have been re-located to countries where pollution
control is less stringent. This explains the level of
tanker traffic on European seas. The tankers are
loaded with heavy oil products to be processed
outside Europe. This increases the risk of spills,
which are becoming the biggest accidental threat to
coastal ecosystems.
New oil terminals and petro-chemical processing
plants located on the coast use more space. For
example, the recent development of large oil
terminals on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland.
The retention of water related to dams for hydro
energy production is also an important issue.
Practically all European rivers are affected by
some kind of dam. Dams may threaten minimum
ecological water flow to support river ecosystems,
stop animals moving within their habitats, and trap
and prevent sediments from reaching the coasts.
The generation of green energies has increased due
to higher demands. Solar installations generally
need less space and are more flexible in terms of
their location compared to wind turbines. So far,
the latter are concentrated in north-western Europe
and have started to claim a noticeable share of
coastal space. There are much less wind turbines
on the Mediterranean coast, but the installation
of wind generators is likely to increase in the near
future.
Living by the sea
The best coastal and offshore locations for wind farms
are found where the wind is strong and reliable,
such as in Spain (Tarifa), the United Kingdom
(Cornwall and Wales) Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands
and Belgium. For example, in Tarifa (Spain) more
than 5 000 wind turbines have been installed; all of
which lie within 10 km of the coastline (Andalusian
Ministry of Public Works and Transportation). The
prerequisites for offshore wind energy farms in the
Baltic Sea are good and there are currently several
new applications under scrutiny in the southern part
of the Baltic Sea (Eionet consultation, Sweden).
There is increasing awareness on the potential
of electromagnetic pollution derived from high
voltage power lines. This issue can be of relevance
in some coastal sites where the territorial pattern of
infrastructure is highly linear and urbanised.
Besides helping to reduce the EU's dependence
on environmentally harmful fossil energies, the
development of renewable energies offer significant
economic potential. In coastal areas however, wind
energy, wave power, tides and currents energy
can pose problems come into competition with
other economic or leisure-based activities and the
protection of ecosystems (CPMR, 2005).
Although green energy can satisfy the huge energy
demand on the coast and help bring additional
incomes to coastal communities, it is still not
sufficient to cover all power needs. Energy demand
on the coast is rapidly increasing.
3.1.6 Fisheries and aquaculture
Historically, fishing has been the coastal activity 'par
excellence'. However, during the last decade the
sector has experienced a serious structural crisis due
to over-fishing and stock collapse. The disastrous
state of the more valuable demersal stocks demands
immediate action, as those species in serious decline
need a chance to rebuild. In addition, there are other
options available such as the adoption of technical
conservation measures (e.g. through net sizes and the
establishment of recovery plans; Eionet consultation,
Denmark). Over past decades the fishery sector
in Europe has been affected by changes aimed at
making conservation of sea resources a priority
objective.
In 2002 the EU-25 produced nearly 7.6 million
tonnes of fishing produce. This figure represents
about 5 % of the world total. Between 1995 and
2002 EU-25 production fell by 17 %, while world
production rose by 17 %. Not only have landings
declined, the average trophic level of landings
has fallen (MEA, 2005a). This phenomenon, also
known as 'fishing down the food web' means that
high value top-predator fish are being replaced
in catches by smaller, less preferred species.
The number of species that continuously retain
commercial value is also declining. In the Black
Sea, the species regularly caught in nets have fallen
from 27 to 6 (EEA, 2005b). The mean size of caught
fish is diminishing for many species. By-catching
under-sized or non-targeted, non-commercial
species remains a problem and the discard rates
are high. For example, by-catches represent 22 %
of landings on average for the North Sea (EEA,
2005b). Fishing and other environmental damage
provides ecological 'space' for new invasive species.
The existing food webs in marine ecosystems may
also be impacted upon by fishing pressure on
small abundant fish species, like sand eels in the
north-east Atlantic or capelins in Barents sea. These
species are used mostly for aquaculture fishmeal.
Reducing the fishing effort and fleet size inevitably
lead to job losses. Between 1990 and 1998,
employment in the sector in the EU fell by about
66 000 to 241 000. This corresponds to an overall
decrease of 21 %. The last decade has seen a net
reduction in employment of about 8 000 in the sector
each year (Eurostat, 2003). The processing sector
has also seen a 14 % decline in employment (EEA,
2005b).
The fall in fishing output and the reduction of
the fishing effort mentioned above is relevant for
both coastal and offshore fisheries. The problems
with coastal fisheries are much worse. Moreover,
they are exacerbated by the fact that there is no
distinction between coastal and offshore fisheries.
A distinction needs to be made. Data management
Source: DMSP/OLS (NASA) image, 19941995.
Map 16 Night glow as indication of human
settlement distribution and related
energy use
Living by the sea
requirements currently in place mean that fisheries
as a whole must always be considered (Eionet
consultations, Denmark and Ireland).
The development model which tries to avoid
competition between different uses of the coast
increasingly threatens the continuation of small-
scale coastal fishing. Coastal fishery rarely wins
when options for sectoral priorities are considered,
especially when there are conflicting interests.
On the basis of access to resources, the conflict of
interests may also occur between small-scale coastal
fisheries and commercial fishing enterprises.
Following integrated coastal zone management
principles, it is thus important to find the way
to promote a coastal fisheries model and offer
local fishing communities the opportunity of
collaboration on a framework for the integrated
management of coastal resources. They need
support for structural change towards alternative
practices (e.g. sustainable aquaculture). Following
the convergence objective of the EU cohesion
policies, this would also enable local communities
to continue living in the area (CPMR, 2005).
Aquaculture has developed at a time when the
fishing of wild fish has declined. Importantly,
it provides an alternative way for fishing
communities to make a living with new technology,
namely, fish farming. Along with this trend,
another change has taken place. There have been a
move away from 'fish for food' to 'food for fish', e.g.
feed for aquaculture fish. Therefore, a large section
of the fishery industry now serves the aquaculture
sector.
In recent years, aquaculture has been the only
segment of the fisheries industry in the European
Community to experience a rise in employment.
It now accounts for approximately 60 000 full-
time jobs, mostly in rural and coastal areas (EEA/
UNEP, 2006). The total number of jobs gained in
aquaculture are fairly consistent with the number
of jobs lost within fisheries. More insight should
be given to see if this shift is true in all places and
if aquaculture is a real alternative to the fishing
industry for coastal communities. Despite these
figures in employment, fishing wild fish provides
four times as many jobs as aquaculture (Eurostat,
2005).
Aquaculture is very controversial because it brings
problems to the local environment. For example,
aquaculture farms make intensive use of coastal
zones (e.g. estuaries, bays) without considering the
equilibrium and resilience of coastal and marine
ecosystems.
Nevertheless, conflict with surrounding areas can be
controlled using isolated production sites. The EU's
fishery funds (axis 3) aim to promote aquaculture
which is environmentally and socially sustainable,
and which offers a high quality product.
It has been estimated (EEA CSI 33, EEA (
12
))
that salmon fish farming in Nordic countries
releases nitrogen in quantities equivalent to the
sewage of 3.9 million people. This can cause water
eutrophication especially in estuaries or in coastal
waters around the installations. At the same
time, following the Water Police Initiative of the
Government of Andalusia, aquaculture installations

Box 19 Reducing fish catches and the fishing fleet
Between 1995 and 2002 nearly all Member States reported falls in fish catches. The largest decreases over
this period were registered by Denmark ( 28 %), Spain ( 18 %), Poland ( 44 %) and Italy ( 26 %), as
listed in total tonnage. In 2002, total catches from all regions accounted for 83 % of EU-15 and AC-10 (now
EU-10) fisheries production. Catches in the North-East Atlantic alone represented 4.62 million tonnes, and
made up more than 60 % of total EU-15 and AC-10 production. Catches in the eastern and central Atlantic,
and the Mediterranean accounted for 8 % and 7 %, respectively.
Between 1995 and 2003, the EU-15 fishing fleet fell by 15 % from 104 000 to 88 000 vessels. All EU-15
Member States recorded a fall in the size of their fleets over this period, except France, which rose by
1 500 vessels. The largest falls were of 34 thousand vessels which were registered in Spain, Italy and the
United Kingdom. Total tonnage only declined by 4 % between 1995 and 2003 to 1.9 million tonnes. By far
the largest fall was registered in Spain, and the largest rises were recorded in France and Ireland.
Source: Eurostat (See http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/docs/page/pgp_prd_cat_prerel/pge_cat_prerel_year_2005/
pge_cat_prerel_year_2005_month_01/5-11012005-en-ap.pdf, accessed 22.11.2005).
(
12
) www.eea.eu.int accessed 23.11.2005.
Living by the sea
in Huelva, the Bay of Cdiz, Mlaga and Granada are
controlled and respect the proposed water quality
values in the water framework directive.
As coastal waters play an important role for fish
nursery habitat, eutrophication due to cultivated
fish leads to the loss of habitat for wild fish. There
is a serious need for mapping fish habitats and their
importance for different stocks, and for devising ways
of managing them in order to preserve important
nursery grounds (Eionet consultation, Finland).
However, it should be highlighted that the
water framework directive is currently in its
implementation phase. The first steps include
identifying the location of all the aquaculture facilities
and controlling their wastewater. This will afford
information on their effects on the coastal and marine
environment. In Spain results of such work have
been reasonably successful (Andalusian Ministry
of the Environment (
13
)). WFD should also help
simplify rules and regulations concerning the land-
sea interface, which are increasingly complex (CPMR
expert consultation).
Other important impacts of aquaculture on the
marine environment include:
the potential risk of escaped farmed fish on the
genetic integrity of wild fish;
the spread of disease and parasite infestation;
increased inputs of veterinary drugs for
growth and disease control, such as chemical
disinfectants and antifouling agents to coastal
waters (Eionet consultation, Norway).
Moreover, in many places, aquaculture is identified
as one of the major causes of alien species
introduction, which has a strong impact on the local
eco-system and biodiversity (EEA/UNEP, 2006).
Fishing communities will gain from aquaculture only
in some areas. In other areas, especially where small-
scale, coastal fisheries are relatively strong, there is
the risk of conflict between both activities, as both
take place in the same coastal space. This leads to the
need for new measures for sea use planning; new
measures which are still underdeveloped in most
territorial waters of the EU. It also poses the issue that
collaboration gives better results than competition.
In some cases, such as Greece, Turkey or Spain,
aquaculture coexists in harmony with traditional
fisheries, especially where aquaculture is based on
protected and over-exploited species (e.g. grouper,
tuna), whose capture from the wild is restricted
(EEA/ETC-W, 2005).
Fishing communities should be able to access specific
training programmes to facilitate their integration
into the management of a changing environment.
Accordingly, fishing communities in coastal areas
are increasingly called upon for vital support
personnel during responses to maritime disasters,
environmental accidents and natural hazards
originating from the sea (e.g. oil spills) (CPMR,
September 2005). The EU has an intensive policy to
support re-training programmes for people formerly
employed in the fishing industry (IFOP (
14
)).
Fishery and aquaculture policies should be
conciliated with the EU Strategy for marine
environment and with sustainable development
strategies for the coast and the sea, including the EU's
ICZM Recommendation.
3.1.7 Transport
Traditionally, flat coastal plains have been a natural
option for communication. In the last 30 years,
they have been a place for highways and the
development of railways linking harbours with
coastal cities and their hinterland.
Linear infrastructures, such as motorways, roads
and railways occupy long stretches of coastal land.
They form physical barriers to hydrodynamics
processes and to sediment. This leads to the creation
of new areas prone to flood risk. They are also
responsible for coastal erosion when constructed
along coastlines, dune fields or on wetlands, as they
inhibit the natural processes of beach formation. In
the most critical locations, erosion can lead to the
destruction of the transport infrastructure itself (e.g.
Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom etc.).
Moreover, roads, railway tracks and paved
surfaces interrupt the water cycle by sealing the
soil, preventing rainwater from permeating the
ground and impeding aquifer recharge. They
have additional effects on ecosystems as they
lead to fragmentation and/or isolation of habitats,
and impact through airborne pollutants on the
surface and coastal waters. Road run-off (i.e. diffuse
pollution) that occurs in coastal zones and in
(
13
) www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/site/aplica/medioambiente/site/web/menuitem.48ed6f0384107256b93561956152
5ea0/?vgnextoid=72c01efbae625010VgnVCM1000000624e50aRCRD accessed 21.01.2005.
(
14
) www.europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/es/lvb/l60017.htm accessed 13.04.2005.
Living by the sea
draining catchments causes chronic pollution from
contaminants, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons,
especially in estuaries and coastal waters. These
trends greatly affect the quality of life of people by
affecting health and safety.
Even if transport externalities are recognised,
dominant practices oriented towards regional
development continue to be based on the building
of transport infrastructures. This tends to trigger the
development of peripheral regions. Coastal regions
have received substantial assistance mainly for
infrastructure investment from the EU Structural
and Cohesion Funds. For example, nearly 70 % of
the EU Structural Funds for the period 19941999
were allocated to EU coastal regions (including nearly
all EU Mediterranean areas, the Atlantic coast of
Portugal, Spain and France and half of the United
Kingdom's coast) (EEA, 1999a).
It is apparent that regions which have received EU
funds show major trends in transport infrastructure
and built up expansion during the period (e.g. Spain,
Portugal and Ireland). This trend is likely to continue
in the period 20072013 with the new Structural
Funds, if they continue to focus on infrastructural
development. This will particularly affect new
Member States and also Mediterranean regions.
Transportation has always been closely linked with
production. Therefore, the re-location or closure of
traditional metal processing and the shipbuilding
industry, e.g. in Balboa (Spain) or some harbour cities
in the Baltic region of Germany, has led to a reshaping
of harbours and affected marine transportation.
Europe has around 1 200 maritime ports which
handle about 1 billion tons of cargo per year and
provide transit for 300 million passengers annually.
The EU merchant fleet is the world leader both in
terms of tonnage and by flag, especially within the
container ship category. Marine transport was a key
priority in the White Paper on European transport
policy for 2010. About 90 % of the EU's external trade
is shipped by sea. Changes in global trade are causing
increased intensity and change in the geography of
sea-based transfers. This should be addressed from
the perspective of the EU's economic independence.
Short-sea shipping has become extremely important
in the European Union and grew by approximately
third between 1991 and 2000. Sea transport shows
an ascending trend with clear growth comparable
today with road transport. Marine transport
represents the best alternative to road transport for
a significant proportion of intra-European trade.
The volume of sea transport is expected to increase
further due to new concepts, such as Motorways
of the Sea (
15
) (
16
). The MoS initiative has a positive
role to play in the development of a trans-European
multi-modal transport scheme and would support
the modernisation and renovation of key port areas.
However, it will also increase vessel traffic on the
coastal sea routes such as Ireland-Spain, southern
France-Italy, Baltic states-northern Germany and
other MoS route proposals. Therefore, careful
planning of marine safety and environmental
measures will be needed.
Shipping in the Baltic and North Seas is already very
intensive, and Sweden is one of the leading countries
responding to the level of sea traffic. It enforces safe
shipping regulation and takes action on environment
quality objectives within the sector (Eionet
consultation, Sweden). The United Kingdom has
recently announced that 32 areas (9 % of its coastline)
are now deemed 'high risk marine environmental
areas' (MEHRA). They have requested that ships
use an even higher degree of care than usual and
encourage vessels to choose other sea routes (UK
Department of Transport (
17
)).
In recent years, Europe has suffered important
catastrophes related to maritime transportation
safety, e.g. the Erika in France or the Prestige in Spain
and France. These are examples of catastrophes that
could have been avoided. However, they did speed
up new legislation to avoid further disasters. After
the disasters, beaches, rocks and the seabed were
cleaned up, some species do return. Nevertheless,
the ecosystem takes a long time to fully recover
(Eionet consultation, France). Sometimes even small
spills can cause serious damage, if the weather
conditions restrict optimal counter-action. For
example, freezing temperatures and icy conditions
meant that a relatively small oil spill in north-west
Estonia created damage to several thousands of sea
birds and other animals in January and February 2006
(MoE (
18
)).
Safety, waste dumping and oil spill issues that arise
because of the expansion of maritime transport
(
15
) http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/intermodality/motorways_sea/doc/2006_motorways_sea_brochure_en.pdf
accessed 03.02.2006.
(
16
) www.worldcargonews.com/htm/ex20040525.696229.htm accessed 20.07.2005.
(
17
) www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_shipping/documents/page/dft_shipping_611167.hcsp accessed 19.02.2006.
(
18
) www.envir.ee/137996 accessed 01.03.2006.
Living by the sea
still remain a threat to the coastal population and
biodiversity. More effort is needed to reduce the
pollution threat, assure the protection of coastal
habitats and facilitate recovery after accidents.
On a positive note, the 1996 Protocol to the UN
Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by
Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (1972) entered
into force on 24 March 2006. The Protocol represents
a major change of approach in regulating the use
of the sea as a depository for waste materials. Now
dumping is prohibited, except for materials from an
approved list, e.g. sewage sludge, fish waste, vessels,
inert geological material and bulky items containing
iron, steel or concrete. This contrasts sharply with the
1972 Convention which permitted dumping of waste
at sea, except for those materials on a banned list.
Nevertheless, maritime traffic is causing direct
environmental pollution. Issues include sea litter
and air pollution from vessel engines (most notably
emissions of SO
2
). Problems in harbours are related
to the collection of growing waste volumes from
ships, such as oily waste, noxious liquid substances,
sewage and garbage. These groups are all specified
in sub-categories. Moreover, a number of important
ports are shifting from cargo to tourism by
increasingly offering more marine transport services
for passengers such as ferry boats and cruise ships

Box 20 Intensification of harbour services
Harbour restructuring is becoming increasingly oriented towards logistics and 'just in time' supply
methods. Moreover, there has been an increase in the number of containers and of 'roll-on, roll-off'
(ro-ro) services which allow transport multi-modality with roads and trains. Ports are being reconverted
into container platforms to serve the growing volume of cargo. Transporting goods over long distances
at sea adds relatively little to the overall costs, but harbour services are expensive. Transport is not the
key cost. On the contrary, time within the harbour required to unload and reload cargo has become a the
critical cost effective issue. Cargo ships used to wait outside harbours in long queues before docking. For
historic reasons many harbours are located in the vicinity of the most valuable coastal ecosystems (e.g.
estuaries, banks and reefs). As queuing involves anchoring and possible waste release, it damages the local
environment. Often completely new, modern harbour areas are constructed next to older harbours, which in
many cases have themselves been re-developed for the leisure industry.
Working practices in harbours have also changed from non-skilled, manual tasks (e.g. loading) to highly-
skilled, technological tasks (e.g. operating computerised machines and crane systems). As a result, former
porters and docker communities have suffered during this transformation within the industry. In order to
attract clients, e.g. large transportation companies and their routes, harbours have needed a combination
of good quality-price ratio of services, and efficient customs and control services. These conditions are
also necessary for harbours if they wish to become a hub between sea and land traffic. To fulfil these new
harbour functions land is needed, which can take a significant share of land from the coast. This often
creates new artificial land development, which consequently armours the coast.
Source: ETC-TE expert judgment.
etc. For example, cruise ships have been described as
'floating cities', whose per capita pollution is actually
worse than that of a city with the same population.
This is largely due to weak pollution control laws,
lax enforcement and the difficulty associated with
detecting illegal discharges at sea.
An average sized, 3 000 passenger cruise ship in USA
generates the following amounts of waste on a typical
one-week voyage (Surfrider Foundation (
19
)):
3 800 m
3
of 'grey water'
800 m
3
of sewage
100 m
3
of oily bilge water
almost 0.5 m
3
of hazardous or toxic waste
50 tons of garbage and solid waste
diesel exhaust emissions equivalent to several
thousands of automobiles
large quantities of ballast water, which can
introduce invasive species (a typical release of
ballast water amounts to 1 000 tons).

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
has recently undertaken an evaluation of how
Member States have been implementing the EU
Directive on 'Port Reception Facilities for Ship
Generated Waste and Cargo Residues' (2000/59/EC).
The overall objective of the directive is to reduce
illegal discharges from the ships by improving
(
19
) www.surfrider.org/a-z/cruise.asp accessed 01.03.2006.
Living by the sea
the availability and use of port reception facilities.
The study should provide a clear picture of port
reception facilities functioning within EU, ship-
generated waste streams, and the effectiveness of
waste handling and reception plans. This includes
fee-systems (
20
).
The Baltic Ports Waste Information System (
21
)
helps ships to find information on waste reception
possibilities and send in their requests. In addition,
it allows ports to promote themselves. The system
provides information on approximately 100 Baltic
ports in Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
and Russia. Information can be retrieved either for a
specific port or a specific type of waste.
3.2 Resulting environmental quality
3.2.1 Status of ecosystems
Loss of biodiversity and habitat
Biodiversity loss is one of the predominant
environmental problems affecting Europe's coasts,
as biodiversity depend on the combined healthy
state of land, freshwater and sea.
Coastal zones enjoy a great diversity of unique
ecosystems and specific habitats as listed in Annex I
of the EU habitats directive. There are nine main
habitat complexes on coastal sites. These sites
include forest, rocky habitats and caves, raised bogs,
mires and fens, natural and semi natural grassland
formations, sclerophyllous scrubs, temperate
heath and scrub, freshwater habitats, coastal and
continental sand dunes, and coastal and halophytic
habitats. For example, there are 300 000 ha of coastal
halophytic habitats in Europe. However, the current
level of information available is not sufficient to
identify trends.
The Corine land cover (CLC) database has been
used to obtain an approximation of habitat trends
between 1990 and 2000. However, it is a recognised
shortcoming that CLC classes only partly fit with
the main coastal habitats (forest, natural grassland,
wetlands etc.).
Traditional forms of agriculture and livestock
breeding have supported the management and
survival of the main coastal habitats. Nowadays
these forms of agriculture are drastically declining
and being replaced by intensive uses.
Mixed agriculture, pasture and natural grassland
land cover have all decreased along European
coasts, e.g. nearly 1 800 km
2
over the past decade.
The main losses (e.g. 70 %) have occurred on the
Atlantic rim in France, Portugal and Ireland. This
trend is largely due to the conversion of pasture into
arable crops, especially maize for cattle breeding.
It is estimated that approximately two thirds of all
European wetlands which existed at the beginning
of 20th century have now been lost (JRC (
22
)).
In the Mediterranean, loss and/or degradation
of coastal wetlands in this century amounts to
73 % of the marshes in Greece, 86 % of the most
important wetlands in France and 60 % of wetlands
in Spain (MedWet (
23
)). 390 square kilometres of
wetlands, including marshes, and parts of coastal
lagoons and estuary mudflats have suffered as a
result of drainage used to create reclaim land for
development and afforestation. Examples include
peatlands in Ireland and parts of the 20 kilometre
stretch of lagoons and salt-marshes of the
Languedoc Roussillon coastline of southern France
(EEA/UNEP, 2006).
Traditionally, many of these intertidal flats and
wetlands have been regarded as having a low
value. However, their environmental services
such as hunting grounds, pollution filters, buffers
against coastal erosion, storm surges and saltwater
intrusion, absorbers of land based nutrients and
pollutants, have been ignored by developers and
regulators alike.
Ecosystems or habitats, such as estuaries, salt-
marshes, lagoons, rocky shores, sea-grass meadows
and sandy beaches are often very productive, but
also very vulnerable to changes in the environmental
conditions on the coasts. Coastal lagoons around
Europe, especially in the Mediterranean, the Black
Sea and the Baltic Sea are vulnerable to changes and
sea level rise due to their low tidal range (EEA (
24
)).
In fact, they are already experiencing drastic and
irreversible changes to their ecosystems, as they
react to both climatic trends and increasing human
pressure (JRC, 2005).
Forest area is increasing slightly in European
coastal zones. On the Mediterranean coast, this
(
20
) www.emsa.eu.int/end905d003d013.html accessed 01.03.2006.
(
21
) http://62.236.121.189/portweb3/default.htm accessed 01.03.2006.
(
22
) http://esl.jrc.it/envind/meth_sht/ms_we042.htm accessed 12.06.2006.
(
23
) www.iucn.org accessed 06.06.2006.
(
24
) http://reports.eea.eu.int/technical_report_2005_1207_144937/en/EEA_Technical_report_7_2005.pdf accessed 01.03.2006.
Living by the sea
treatment plants. Nevertheless, a substantial part
of the European population and settlements have
insufficient urban waste water plant connection
(e.g. 30 % in the Mediterranean Sea). Nutrient
concentrations in Europe's seas have generally
remained stable over recent years. Chlorophyll-a
concentration monitored by satellite images show
that the effected areas were the same in both 1998
and 2000. A longer series is needed to assess the
quality of water. This issue remains to be addressed.
In the Baltic, the eutrophication problem, which
is characterised by heavy algal blooms, was very
pronounced during the summer of 2005. Very heavy
algal blooms covered a large part of the Baltic,
especially in the area west of the island of Gotland.
As a result, the tourism industry suffered from a
reduced number of visitors (Eionet consultation,
Sweden).
The main source of eutrophication is agricultural
run-off and urban direct loads released into the
sea. The impact of eutrophication on coastal
ecosystems is well assessed by the persistence of
turbid conditions in transitional waters (IFREMER
expert consultation, 2005). By relating water quality
to ecosystem health, this indicator shows the
impact of continuous water turbidity on the seabed
communities, e.g. sea grass.
Coastal waters are the place where many sea species
reproduce and live before coming back to the sea.
Therefore, sea ecosystems depend greatly on the
quality of water around the coastline.
Invasive species growing in numbers and effects
In a wide range of ecosystems, the accidental
or voluntary introduction of non-native species
by humans has altered biological community
interactions. This has triggered dramatic and often
unexpected changes in the ecosystem processes and
caused large financial and cultural losses (MEA,
2005a).
Invasive species pose a greater threat to ecosystems
on the coast, including marine and wetland
ecosystems, than anything else. This is due to the fact
that the species invasion via maritime transport and
activities (e.g. ballast water and aquaculture) happens
more easily, and is difficult to control. It is estimated
that 12 billion tonnes of ballast water are carried
around the world each year and that at any one time
happens in combination with a withdrawal of
traditional farming systems (i.e. methods for
managing biomass production). In the past,
different grazing methods helped avoid the
accumulation of forest litter. Now forest litter poses
a fire risk. However, forest fires and other hazards
like storms also contribute to the rejuvenation of
ecosystems.
The coastal sand dunes and associated ecosystem
develop where there is an adequate supply of
sand, wide beaches and onshore winds. Sand dune
habitats have been suffering from degradation and
physical destruction throughout Europe. Fixed
dunes and dune heath are particularly threatened
habitats and are regarded as priorities under the
EU habitats directive.
Dune losses have been reported in many coastal
areas. In Spain, their destruction is closely linked
with urban development along the coastline. This
has taken place in many Spanish regions (e.g.
Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia, Balearic Islands
or Catalonia). Camping sites are often installed
on dune fields in Spain, Portugal or Germany.
Furthermore, they have also suffered degradation
because of over frequentation (e.g. in the
Camargue, the United Kingdom and Nord-Pas de
Calais). The ecological status of dune habitat in the
United Kingdom, which comprises 54 500 ha in
total, is currently classified as 'unfavourable with
some improvements' at national level.
European sand dunes are experiencing an
'unfavourable decline' and constitute a threatened
habitat throughout Europe (Cheshire (
25
)). It is,
however, difficult to obtain information on surfaces
covered by these formations at EU level. National
information is sometimes available. However, local
information updates are the most frequent.
Sub-tidal ecosystems, such as sea grasses, have also
been deeply altered and have reduced their surface
and/or density. The situation of Posidonia oceanica in
the western Mediterranean is rather serious. Here,
shoot density has been rapidly decreasing by up to
50 % over the past few decades (Coastal Guide (
26
)).
Eutrophication and algae bloom still evident
In general, nitrogen and phosphorus loads
entering coastal water have been decreasing
due to a significant improvement in wastewater
(
25
) www.cheshire-biodiversity.org.uk/habitat-csanddune.htm accessed 10.02.2005.
(
26
) www.coastalguide.org/eco/posidi.html, accessed 08.06.2005.
Living by the sea
7 000 different species are carried in ships' ballasts.
Changes in marine ecosystem structure caused by
climate change, over-harvesting of resources or
eutrophication have left the ecosystem vulnerable to
invasion from alien species.
The most dramatic increase in the number of invasive
species happened between the 1960s and the 1980s,
particularly in the Mediterranean (Map 17). Cases are
still reported and Europe's seas continue to become
home to hundreds of non-native species, e.g. the
red king crab in the Barents Sea. This species was
deliberately introduced between 1960 and 1970, and
their population increased six-fold between 1995 and
2002. Large quantities of a new species are a threat
to some local benthic species and may compete
with bottom-feeding fish (WWF (
27
)). For example,
in the Baltic Sea, the crustacean invertebrate
species (Stenocuma graciloides) was reported in 2004
and the Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in
2005. Both species originate from the Caspian Sea
(Helcom (
28
)).
Bathing waters improving but hot spots remain
In the last few decades, both the coastal population
and governments have become increasingly
concerned about sewage discharges reaching
coastal bathing waters in Europe, and the
consequent risks this poses to public health.
Moreover, bathing water quality is now one of
the criteria tourists use to select their holiday
destination.
Bathing water quality is a good indicator of the
microbiological state of coastal waters, which is so
important for human health. General trends show
that bathing water is improving. However, hotspots
Map 17 Mode of introduction of marine alien species
Source: EEA, 2003.
(
27
) www.wwf.no/pdf/CBD_king_crab.pdf accessed 01.03.2006.
(
28
) www.helcom.fi accessed 16.05.2006.
Living by the sea
are still present in areas with eutrophic conditions
in the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea, the northern Black
Sea along the Ukraine coast and in the Azov Sea. At
many bathing sites, problems arise after storms and
heavy rains, as they bring the waste and polluted
water from congested storm release networks to
the sea.
3.2.2 Coastal systems at risk
Sediment balance and coastal erosion
Coastlines are becoming more and more vulnerable
and large stretches of coasts are losing their
resilience. This is due to the growth in artificial
surfaces and preference of hard sea defences.
Disequilibrium in both sediment balance and
ecosystem health is expected to increase the
level of risk to the coast, especially in densely
populated coastal areas with little protection
from natural sedimentation processes (e.g. the
Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, eastern United
Kingdom, Atlantic coast of France and Portugal,
and Mediterranean lagoons and deltas). Rising sea
levels are expected to exacerbate this problem and
some high coasts made of soft geological materials
may be put at risk (e.g. cliffs from Pas de Calais and
Normandy in France, the Dover cliffs in the United
Kingdom and the Polish coast).
Significant stretches of the coast in Europe suffer
from erosion (25 % of EU coast (Eurosion (
29
)).
To fight this, a number of sea defences has been
constructed which cover 10 % of European coastlines.
But these defences often lead to undesirable effects
on sedimentary processes. They create new eroded
areas and new problematic sedimentation areas, as
the coastal defence installations act as a barrier to the
natural littoral drift of the sediments. The increasing
length of armoured waterfronts in Europe was
intended to serve local interests, but did not take into
account the wider sediment balances and impacts in
neighbouring areas.
To fight the real cause of coastal erosion, it is
necessary to recognise that there is an overall
deficit of sediments on the coasts. This results from
upstream dam construction on discharging rivers.
Dams trap sediments as well as water, reducing the
river bed and bank erosion (canalisation of rivers).
Extraction of offshore sand and gravel deposits from
the sea bottom often cause steeping of the submerged
littoral zone. Dredging of ship channels, particularly
in port areas, can also impact the sediment balance.
For example, some 20 million m
3
of sediment is
dredged annually in the port of Rotterdam alone.
Even if most of the sediment is returned to the sea,
significant parts are relocated to storage areas in
accordance with chemical criteria regulation (Vellinga
and Eisma, 2005).
The changes in sediment balance have resulted
in an annual loss to Europe's coastal systems
of an estimated 100 million tonnes of material
(Eurosion (
30
)). On a global scale, some 25 % of the
current sediment load from land to the coastal zones
is trapped in river reservoirs. Assuming that the
global natural sediment discharge is 1820 billion
tons per year, the combined impact of all large
dams will be of an order of 45 billion tons per year
(Vrsmarty et al., 2003). It has been estimated that
the amount of solid discharge retention by dams in
the Ebro river is about 96 % (Sanchez-Arcilla and
Jimenez, 1997).
The sustainability of sediment balance is an important
challenge for Europe's coastal zones. However, it
should be viewed in the wider context of sustainable
river management, sea level rise and increasing
coastal erosion impacts on the shoreline and intertidal
areas. Improving coastal resilience by restoring the
sediment balance will require identifying areas where
essential sediment processes occur, and establishing
'strategic sediment reservoirs' from where sediment
can be taken without endangering the natural
balance.
In terms of a management strategy, the main objective
should be to shift from coastal defence and beach
management to sediment management. Modern
methods of 'soft' coastal engineering that reinforce
natural buffers against the rising tides, such as dunes
and salt marshes and the protection of key sources of
sediment, will help maintain coastal sediment balance
and the stability of coastal systems (EEA, 2005).
Natural and technological risks
In Europe, earthquakes have killed far more people
than any other extreme event, and have caused
extensive damage. Europe's major earthquake-
prone areas are in the Mediterranean and Black
Sea basins along the active fault lines between the
Eurasian and African plates. It is not unreasonable
to be reminded of the 60100 thousand victims
who lost their lives in the Great Earthquake and
Tsunami of Lisbon 1 November 1755. This was
caused by considerable ocean floor subsidence
(
29
) www.eurosion.org, accessed 17.03.2005.
(
30
) www.eurosion.org, accessed 17.03.2005.
Living by the sea

Box 21 Warning jellyfish invasion
The recent invasion of jellyfish in bathing waters occurred along the Mediterranean coast in the second
week of August 2005. It affected 127 people along the Catalan coast alone (compared with six people
the year before, according to the Red Cross), and led to the red flag being raised at numerous beaches
when the sea was otherwise calm and bathing conditions perfect. The sea was converted into a 'huge field
of stinging nettles'. Experts have interpreted this invasion as a symptom of the sea losing its ecosystem
equilibrium (Pauly, 2003).
This explanation is based on changes in three main parameters in the sea:
Jellyfish like warm waters. The sea could have become warmer because of climate change, which has
contributed to an augmentation of the sea temperature.
Jellyfish feed on plankton, which reproduce and thrive in warm waters under eutrophication conditions.
Waste water offers plenty of nitrates and phosphates. When they are added to loads arriving from
agriculture, an excess of nutrients are created which provoke eutrophication. These conditions are perfect
for jellyfish and allow them to flourish.
Predators of jellyfish, such as marine turtles and big fish are disappearing. Each year 25 000 marine
turtles are accidentally caught.
Increases in jellyfish numbers are expected worldwide. However, there are instances of a decrease in the
population due to heavily impacted coastal areas. Some jellyfish species will undoubtedly become extinct as
part of the global loss of biodiversity (Mills, 2001).
Source: ETC-TE, based on Pauly et al., 2003, and Mills, 2001.
around 200 km from the coast at Azores-Gibraltar
fracture zone in the Atlantic Ocean (Lisbon
earthquake (
31
)). Such events, even if only happening
relatively infrequently over long periods of time
confirm that coastal natural risks do exist in Europe
and can hit at any time. About 70 tsunamis have
affected the Italian coast over the last 900 years.
The largest tsunami recorded was in Messina
1908 which cost approximately 10 thousand lives
(Ortolani (
32
)). Unsustainable practices on the coast,
such as the destruction of sheltering ecosystems,
excessive sand mining on the coastal sea bottom
or massive residential build up of the waterfronts,
only increases the vulnerability of the coast to the
impact of such events. Similar vulnerability was
demonstrated by the south-east Asian tsunami in
December 2004.
Europe has a high concentration of nuclear plants.
These plants are mostly located either along rivers
or the coast, as they need a large quantity of
water for the cooling process. Discharges of warm
cooling water can produce alterations of coastal
aquatic life, reducing fish stocks and disrupting the
balanced ecosystems. In addition, the heated water
is discharged with such a force that surrounding
sea beds are often scoured to bare rock, leaving a
virtual marine desert on the ocean floor.
Technological hazards and accidents related
to nuclear power plants are well known, e.g.
Chernobyl in 1986. Moreover, a number of nuclear
plants are at risk from coastal erosion, for example
in the United Kingdom where hard and soft sea
defences including new wetlands are constructed
in front of them to avoid a direct attack from the
sea. Nuclear waste has been discarded into deep sea
over a long period of time, and uncertainties remain
about the durability and lifetime of these sealed
boxes. From a global perspective, an estimated
313 000 containers of low-intermediate radioactive
waste has been dumped in the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans since 1970. This would pose a significant
threat to deep-sea ecosystems should the containers
leak (MEA, 2005a).
Favourable trade and logistics conditions at marine
port areas also attract sectors of the chemical industry
dealing with dangerous substances. Resulting
concentrations of chemical plants in coastal zones
pose a permanent potential threat to the coastal
population and ecosystems. Major accidents
involving installations along coastlines, which may
cause immediate damage to marine and terrestrial
habitats, is subject to regulation by SEVESO II
Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major-accident
hazards involving dangerous substances (EEA, 2004).
(
31
) www.lisbon-and-portugal.com/travel/1755-lisbon-earthquake.html accessed 31.01.2006
(
32
) http://atlas-conferences.com/cgi-bin/abstract/caqy-42 accessed 31.01.2006.
Living by the sea
Petro-chemical plants and storage facilities in
particular pose a permanent accident hazard
because of the large amount of oil and petroleum
products concentrated at one single location.
Potential threats may also rise from pipelines.
3.2.3 Protection of coastlines
The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
has concluded that two-thirds of the world's

Box 22 Earthquake threat in the Mediterranean region
The most dramatic events in recent decades include the 1980 earthquake in southern Italy which killed
4 500 people and left more than a quarter of a million homeless. But the most powerful and destructive
of these was the Izmit earthquake (Turkey) in August 1999 which killed an estimated 17 000 people and
caused more than EUR 15 billion in losses. The following month a seismic tremor struck the northern
neighbourhoods of Athens, killing around 140 people and leaving more than 60 000 homeless. The latest
major earthquakes took place in Turkey in April 2003 and in Algeria in May 2003. The effects of the latter
event were felt in the Balearic Islands in the form of a small tsunamis that sank several recreational boats.
Source: EEA, 2004.
ecosystems, ranging from wetlands and coastal
areas to forest and soils, are either degraded or
managed unsustainably. The net value or benefit
of many ecosystems is higher where they are intact
and not damaged or converted for other uses. For
example, an intact wetland in northern countries
is worth nearly USD 6 000 per ha. However, this
value falls to just over USD 2 000 per ha if the
wetland is drained and made ready for intensive
agriculture.
Map 18 Earthquakes in Europe and adjoining areas (19642001)
Source: European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, 2001.
Living by the sea
As stated by the Executive Director of UNEP,
Dr. Klaus Toepfer, 'We need imaginative financial
mechanisms and incentives to give these resources
real value and to encourage reinvestment in
the natural capital we have already overused'
(Millennium Assessment Report (
33
)).
The European report for the Ramsar Convention
COP9 meeting (Uganda, 2005) prioritised the need
to integrate wetland policies fully into other strategic
and planning processes, including integrated
coastal zone management between 2006 and 2008.
The report pointed out that for many European
countries this goal would remain a major challenge
(Ramsar (
34
)).
Even though protection of natural areas in Europe
has improved, i.e. with more surfaces being placed
under designation, the tools for assessing the
status of species and habitats in Natura2000 sites
are still under development. They should provide
the opportunity to judge whether the network of
Natura2000 sites is sufficient for the preservation of
these habitats (Eionet consultation, Finland).
Whether this will be achieved depends not only
on the area but also on the quality of the sites. The
way in which protection management happens also
matters. Protection could take place by designing
corridors based on connectivity or connectedness or
restoring habitats for different species. As a result,
assessing whether Natura2000 implementation is
sufficient or not will be a very complex issue. A new
concept of protection for the entire territory (and not
only specific sites) should therefore be implemented.
Coastal zones, both at sea and on land, have
been identified as the place with the highest level
of biodiversity within the entire EU territory
(ELOISE (
35
)). Intensification of built up areas occurs
especially in the coastal strip, i.e. the first kilometre
inland from the shoreline. The high degree of
occupation of this land either directly or indirectly
affects all coastal ecosystems. Habitat protection
has only recently been taken into account in
planning instruments. Moreover, the development
and intensive occupation of this area becomes a
private socio-economic privilege when the seafront
areas come on to the property market. This creates
restricted access to the coast due to private property,
and undermines the common value of shoreline
ecosystems. National coastal law (where applicable)
de-limits this availability for development in most
EU countries, but needs good implementation and
enforcement.
Initiatives have been taken by some countries
to draw up specific protection figures for the
coast. This is the situation in the Baltic Sea
region where protection is carried out through
planning instruments. Currently there are 418
Natura2000 areas (i.e. more than 7 000 km
2
) along
the Swedish coast. These areas encompass both
land as well as marine areas. 270 of these 418
countries include marine habitats; the total area of
which is over 3 200 km
2
. The recent addition was
the Kungsbackafjordens marine nature reserve,
which was inaugurated in September 2005 (Eionet
consultation, Sweden).
In France, the Conservatoire du Litoral et des
Rivages Lacustres has carried out the equivalent
service since 1975. It purchases land and takes
it off the real estate market. Today, this land
represents around 70 000 ha of important habitats
and coastal landscapes. New areas are bought
every year. Previously, this land was managed
by local communities and associations. The ONF
Organisation Nationale des Frets also
participates in the management of these areas.
Moreover, the ONF has the responsibility of
managing national forests. An significant share of
these sites is located by the coast.
The Conservatoire sites are open to the public
and attract a great many visitors. For example,
one million visitors per year visit one Mediterranean
site alone. The problem of too many visitors needs
to be addressed and balanced with conservation
and awareness building among the public. Spain is
presently preparing to enforce a law in 2006 based
on a system similar to the French Conservatoire.
It is expected that sea level rise and the associated
inundation, combined with a high rate of erosion
can put settlements near shorelines in danger. This
is especially the case in lowland areas. In the light
of this risk, some initiatives for de-construction or
urban set back have taken place along different
coasts in Europe. Flooding episodes and erosion
risk, for example in the United Kingdom, have
also triggered initiatives. Other de-construction
initiatives have been carried out in response to
market drivers, for instance to modernise and
restructure hotel parks that do not meet new
standards. This has created a better environment
(
33
) www.millenniumassessment.org/en/products.aspx accessed 12.04.2005.
(
34
) http://www.ramsar.org/cop9_doc11_e.doc accessed 14.09.2005.
(
35
) www.eloisegroup.org/themes/climatechange/caseintro.htm accessed 27.02.2006.
Living by the sea
in places (e.g. Calvia Agenda 21, Mallorca). Finally,
stringent legislation has also led to de-construction
initiatives.
Although still relatively rare, these initiatives
demonstrate how social perception is slowly
changing. Often referred to as a 'managed retreat'
(EEA, 2005) or 'managed realignment' (e.g. UK
case study of River Humber estuary provided by
ELOISE (
36
)), these actions are aimed at promoting
greater respect for natural processes within
coastal management. Current coastal practices are
producing widespread coastal squeeze of intertidal
habitats, such as salt-marshes and other coastal
wetlands. These practices are reclaiming new
coastal areas for urban development or agriculture
and setting up hard coastal defences, which fix
the coastline position and restrict natural coastal
dynamics.
By recognising the short term perspective of coastal
squeeze, managed realignment can provide natural
flood defences. Working with natural processes
rather than against them will provide additional
benefits through the creation of inter-tidal habitats.
These benefits include recreation, carbon storage,
improved water quality and educational values.
However, land which was previously defended will
be lost, and therefore careful cost-benefit analysis is
needed (Coombes et al. (
37
)).
Through the maintenance and enhancement of
natural buffer zones, coastal squeeze can be reduced
and even avoided. More variability in coastal zone
management also affords a better ability to cope
with climate change impacts within coastal zones
(Rochelle-Newall et al., 2005). By returning more
space to nature and allowing natural landscapes
to be restored, a higher value is being given to the
quality of the coast.
For an ecosystem approach, management practices
in the coastal zone should be linked to river basin
management. They should take into account
the entire river-coast ecosystem continuum of
discharging rivers, their catchments (including the
flood plain) as well as the marine area of the coastal
zone. This will provide both a better understanding
of the entire coastal system and facilitate better
design of management strategies. In future, it will be
necessary to connect such integrated management
with maintenance and enhancement of natural sinks
and buffers in coastal zones. Moreover, an integrated
management strategy should be monitored for both
its effectiveness and limitations in ensuring human
safety, economic development and ecological integrity
(Rochelle-Newall et al., 2005).
Coasts will also benefit from an enlarged network
of Marine Protected Areas (MPA). At the World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
Johannesburg 2002, governments agreed to create
networks of marine protected areas before 2012.
The system of MPAs has been recommended by
European Regional Sea Conventions (e.g. OSPAR and
Helcom) and is consequently being implemented by
participating member countries. The main objective
of creating MPAs is to halt and reverse the decline of
marine habitats and species by reducing the impact
of human activities on the marine environment. It is
also intended to provide a safe haven for depleted
and vulnerable fish stocks to breed in and recover.
MPAs should then be able to foster the application
of an ecosystem-based approach to the management
of human activities at sea (WWF, 2003). Networks
of MPAs are proposed in the form of designated sea
areas, where marine uses (fishing, shipping, off-shore
wind energy, extraction of oil, gas or aggregates
etc.) are carefully monitored or restricted. The
establishment of MPAs can also be seen as a step
forward in the spatial planning of sea areas.
(
36
) www.eloisegroup.org/themes/climatechange/caseintro.htm accessed 27.02.2006.
(
37
) http://www.eloisegroup.org/themes/climatechange/doc/case_study.doc accessed 27.02.2006.
75
Current trends in policy responses
4 Current trends in policy responses
Promoting public awareness about coasts has been
a long standing and complex issue. Early policies
affecting the coastal zone were predominantly issue
oriented (e.g. water quality) and reactive in nature.
Furthermore, the governance of coastal and marine
areas has remained fragmented between countries
and thematic areas (e.g. sectors) at both national and
European level.
Policy documents for Integrated Coastal Zone
Management (ICZM) are the first to recognise three
critical areas, namely: the importance of land/sea
interaction; the human dimension in coastal
processes; and the need to integrate different sectors
and stakeholders in order to avoid the type of
conflict which leads to unsustainable development.
4.1 Development of policy
Since the 1970s the EU has been dealing with coastal
zones through international conventions covering
its regional seas. More recently, the EU has begun to
specifically address problems related to the state of
the coasts (
38
) and the coast as an regional entity. This
has resulted in two policy documents:
the Commission communication on Integrated
Coastal Zone Management: the Strategy for
Europe (ICZM Strategy, COM(2000)547 final)
the European Parliament and the Council
recommendation concerning the implementation
of Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Europe
(EU ICZM Recommendation, 2002/413/EC).
Coastal zones are also addressed in other legislation,
such as the environmental impact assessment
directive (2001), the water framework directive
(2000), the quality of bathing water directive (1976,
agreed for amendment in 2005) and the directive
on quality required of shellfish waters (1979). In
addition, coastal zones are also highlighted by the
European spatial development perspective (1999).
Also, the EC Treaty (1999) Art. 130a (promotion of
economic and social cohesion) mentions islands
as areas requiring special attention. Most recently,
the Commission's communication on the European
Marine Strategy (COM(2005)504), the related Marine
Strategy Directive proposal (COM(2005)505) and the
future Maritime Policy (Green Paper (
39
)) are also very
relevant to coastal zones.
Nevertheless, in practice, identifying and
implementing dedicated EU coastal policies has
been slow. A first communication on the integrated
management of the coast in 1973 (Committee of
Ministers Resolution (73) 29 on the protection of
coastal areas) has needed more than 20 years to
be tested in 10 pilot sites through the EU's ICZM
demonstration programme (19961999). The EU
recommendation on ICZM (2002) was completed
almost 30 years later. This key policy document is an
important breakthrough for the ICZM realisation.
However, being a recommendation it completely
relies on voluntary measures from individual
Member States. This also offers some opportunities
for integrating the existing legislation directives,
programmes and frameworks that play a role in
managing the coast.
At the same time, the approach laid down by the
ICZM strategy and the EU's ICZM Recommendation
underlines the need for a flexible, problem-oriented
response. This is due to the diverse physical,
economic, cultural and institutional characteristics
of Member States. The underpinning ethos is one of
governance by partnership with civil society. Here,
the EU should provide leadership and guidance
to support implementation at other levels, as
emphasised by a subsidiarity and proportionality
clause in the EU's ICZM Recommendation. It is
also important that, where possible and relevant,
the European approach to the ICZM builds on
existing instruments and programmes. Often, these
instruments will not necessarily have been designed
with coastal zones in mind (Ledoux et al., 2005).
At national level, the situation is very similar, for
example, in France. 30 years had passed since
the last alert message from the CNADT littoral
(
38
) http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/iczm accessed 09.06.2005.
(
39
) http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/policy_en.html accessed 13.06.2006.
Commission (Conseil National de l'Amnagement
et du Dveloppement du Territoire). This coincided
with the parliamentary decision to implement the
French ICZM strategy.
National policies have played an important role
in helping coastal zones to withstand or delay
pressures, e.g Danish planning laws prohibiting
uncontrolled urban sprawl and France's
Conservatoire du Littoral's remit to withdraw land
from the real estate market and support natural
landscapes and biodiversity values.
Other examples such as the Spanish 'Ley de Costas'
from 1988 was intended as an integrated approach
to coastal planning. However, it failed to identify
a good line of implementation, and thus resulted

Box 23 Swedish national strategy for the marine environment
In 2005, the Swedish government presented a national strategy for the marine environment. In a
communication the government pointed out that the short-term and long-term work on the marine
environmental should be linked. The aim is for more coordinated planning and management of Swedish
sea areas, and the government wants to further develop already existing instruments. In order to make
more holistic planning and management work possible a more knowledge-based foundation for planning the
coastal and marine environment has been requested. The Swedish EPA is expected to be awarded the task
of providing this foundation and will work with other concerned sector agencies and organisations.
Furthermore, the government intends to improve coordination and integration by establishing a special
marine coordination group. This group will comprise the executive directors of the responsible marine
sector agencies. In addition, a Marine Council will be established which will have an advisory role to the
government.
The Swedish government has also presented a parliament bill on the Swedish Environmental Quality
Objectives. The goal of the Balanced Marine Environment, Flourishing Coastal Areas and Archipelagos
Objective is to preserve biological diversity and ensure that the North Sea and the Baltic Sea have
sustainable productive capacity.
Source: Eionet consultation, Sweden.
in limited applicability. Nevertheless, it should be
highlighted that this kind of legislative initiative
presents a good opportunity for integrated measures
as the coastal zone is viewed as a whole and
managed in a similar way to public land. Hence,
direct intervention of public administration is
possible. During 2005 the Spanish government, the
10 coastal autonomous communities and two coastal
autonomous cities began implementing the future
coastal management plan for the coast of Spain in
accordance with the ICZM strategy.
4.2 The main elements of current
European policy framework for
coasts
Coastal zones cannot be managed by a single body
of legislation. Due to the complexity of coastal
zones and their environment, an appropriate blend
of different policy instruments is needed. This
should be fused with an holistic vision targeting the
sustainable development of coasts.
To be policy-relevant, an assessment of the state
of coasts in Europe needs to address the driving
forces behind coastal change. Some aggregation
of European key policy areas and regulatory
frameworks that are relevant to coastal zones will
allow more focused policy analysis (see Figure 16).
Taking an environmental perspective, the main
economic sectors are identified as environmental
pressures that need additional integration. At the
same time, they also represent constituents of
integrated policies where they play a key role in
Figure 16 Approach for policy analysis of
coastal areas
Sectoral policies:
Need for
additional
integration
Integrated policies:
Need for full
implementation
Unique policy
element for
sea/land
interface
achieving sustainable development and quality of
life for coastal population.
Specific ICZM policy elements act as a catalyst and
facilitate links between sectoral and/or broader
integrated policies. By focusing specifically on the
coastal zone as a spatial continuum, legislative
acts relevant to ICZM provide a coherent policy
framework for the coast. This framework should
assure that legislation, subsidies, investments,
spatial plans and resource management strategies
do not have adverse impacts or pose risks to life
and property. Furthermore, they should not make
inefficient use of capital or lead to foreclosure
of resource development options. The principle
of ICZM has to move the process of coastal
integration further. Currently, the overall effective
implementation of the EU's ICZM Recommendation
is not happening. Therefore, something should be
done. Action should include good coordination
between existing legislation (such as the water
framework directive), the thematic strategy for
marine environment and the future maritime policy.
4.2.1 Policies of key economic sectors
The integration of key sectoral policies is essential
for coastal zones because of the impact of different
economic activities on the limited space within
coastal zones. The carrying capacity of fragile coastal
systems are often more limited, if compared to
inland or off-shore systems.
Sectors, such as fisheries and transport, have often
been managed independently of one another, and
until recently have not taken coastal zones into
account. As a result, the economic development
taking place within coastal areas has paid scant
attention to the environment. However, the effects
of different sectors on the state of the coast can be
significant and different from those inland.
Currently, there is no EU policy for Tourism. This
is due to Article 3 of the Maastricht Treaty, which
gives the European Community limited scope to
take forward non-legislative measures on tourism.
However, the Council of the EU has outlined a
vision for European tourism, which includes aspects
of sustainability, in its Resolution of 21 May 2002
(2002/C 135/01).
The European Commission has adopted
the communication, 'Basic orientations for
the sustainability of European tourism'
(COM(2003) 716 final). It outlines the challenges
and objectives of sustainable tourism. The Tourism
Unit in the European Commission (DG Enterprise)
is currently considering whether to develop a
programme for sustainable tourism in the EU. This
would correspond with international developments
(e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity Guidelines
on Biodiversity and Tourism Development (2004)
and UNEP principles for Sustainable Tourism).
Activities linked to the tourism industry result in
several environmental pressures, many of which
are very relevant to coasts. These include the use of
land and water resources, aesthetic aspects of coasts,
safety of seafood and bathing water, the physical
disturbance of ecosystems and the development of
residential areas.
Agriculture has an important role for the coasts,
even though it is obviously not a maritime
activity. The reform of the Common Agriculture
Policy is certainly beneficial for coastal zones
because reorientation from production to broader
rural development will reduce pressures on
fragile coastal ecosystems. This will be enhanced
by a requirement for the cross-compliance
of agricultural activities with other policies,
in particular environment. At the same time,
agricultural production around densely populated
areas is becoming more and more specialised
and intensive. This is driven by tourism and the
increasing popularity of coastal areas. Displaced by
urban expansion, intensive agriculture production
may suppress traditional agricultural schemes,
including high nature value farmlands.
Fishing is only partly considered as a coastal zone
activity, since the majority of catches are made in
more remote waters. Nevertheless, fish landing and
processing as well as the share of fishing taking
place in the coastal zone provide major sources of
employment and therefore affect the life of coastal
communities. The reform of the Common Fisheries
Policy has been driven by the need to respond to
unsustainable fishing patterns, which often lead to
reduced fishing capacity. Similarly, the expansion of
aquaculture needs more coordinated management.
This is also the aim of integrated resource
management plans for fisheries and the creation of
regional advisory councils.
Transport: The EU common transport policy is
the basis for the development of trans-European
networks, which also includes shortsea shipping
and new concepts such as Motorways of the Sea
(European Commission (
40
)). Coastal ship traffic
in Europe has been constantly increasing and
(
40
) http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/intermodality/motorways_sea/index_en.htm accessed 03.02.2006.
needs well-defined responses. The future maritime
policy will address the sustainability of marine
transport and its impact on European coasts. This
should be linked with the construction of transport
infrastructures along the coastline and the
increasing road building. This would then require
integrated spatial planning.
Industrial installations exist on both sides of
the coastline and are growing. They are attracted
by logistic opportunities (e.g. oil refineries,
port facilities) or coastal resources (e.g. wind
farms, oil rigs). Most of these facilities are large
enough to be covered by the integrated pollution
prevention and control directive (IPPC). Therefore,
a lot can be achieved by implementing spatial
planning on the coastal strip and territorial water.
Effective clustering of these industries and careful
assessment of their environmental impact have an
important role in reducing the negative impact on
coastal ecosystems and the sustainability of coastal
zones in general.
4.2.2 Cross-cutting and integrated policies
In recent years, the EU has been continuously
developing the frameworks and legislative base for
facilitating an integrated, cross-cutting approach in

Box 24 Revision of the bathing water quality directive
In October 2005, the Council and the European Parliament agreed on a revision of the directive on bathing
water quality. The old bathing water directive from 1976 will be repealed and replaced, so as to reflect
development made in scientific knowledge and managerial experience since 1976. In particular, changes
concern better public information and the introduction of new standards (category 'sufficient'). There are
also plans to identify sources, reduce the risk of pollution and make provisions for implementation and the
further review of the directive in 2020. The new directive will complement the water framework directive
as well as the directives on urban wastewater treatment and on nitrates pollution from agricultural sources.
The directive is scheduled to be implemented within two years of it coming into force (early 2008).
Source: European Commission, Revision of the bathing water directive (See www.europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/index_en.html
accessed 08.03.2005).
policy. Such integration objectives are yet to make
their mark on coastal zone management, especially
in the context of the territorial cohesion objectives
of the EU.
There are several integrated and horizontal policies
which are not directly aimed at coastal zones but
are nevertheless very relevant to the sustainable
development of coasts. These include:
policy frameworks: European spatial
development perspective, Sustainable
development strategy, 6th EU environment
action programme and most relevant thematic
strategies (marine environment, soil protection,
urban environment);
water framework directive (supported by urban
waste water treatment, nitrate, bathing water
and shellfish waters quality directives);
birds and habitat directives (Natura2000);
environmental impact assessment directive
(1997);
strategic environmental assessment directive
(2001);
structural funds and the cohesion fund.
The birds and habitat directives provide the
basis for protection of coastal ecosystems

Box 25 Action plans for European regional seas
The European marine strategy foresees a separate action plan for each European sea with a view to
implementing the EU marine policy. In summer 2005, the Helcom Member States and the EU agreed to
develop a strategic Baltic Sea action plan by 2007. This should ensure that all possible measures are
taken to reduce pollution in the Baltic Sea and ensure that damage done to the marine environment is
repaired. The plan is based on ecological objectives, which reflect a common vision of a healthy Baltic Sea.
The ecological objectives and their associated indicators will be used to evaluate the efficiency of existing
environmental measures and to provide guidance for the development of future management measures for
the region.
Source: Helcom, 2005.
(Natura2000) and the water framework directive
sees coastal waters as part of river basin districts.
It therefore provides a legal basis for treating
coastal zone as a single system. A strategic
environmental assessment directive provides the
basis for integration of environmental concerns
in sector policies. The environmental impact
assessment directive demands assessments for any
development project affecting specified natural
systems, including coastal zones.
In particular, the habitat and birds directives
and WFD have very important and significant
implications for other sectoral policies.
The Commission's communication on the
European Marine Strategy (COM(2005)504) and
the related Marine Strategy Directive proposal
(COM(2005)505) follows the overall objective of
protecting and restoring Europe's oceans and seas,
and ensuring that human activities are carried out
in a sustainable manner. To achieve this objective,
the strategy must draw up principles, such as:
a dual EU/regional approach to ensure that
planning and execution of measures is carried
out at regional level;
an ecosystem-based approach that promotes
the integrated management of sea resources
and coastal systems;
knowledge-based policy making;
co-operation between all relevant stakeholders
and regional seas conventions.
The strategy sets up a framework for enhanced
co-operation and proposes a legal instrument,
e.g. the marine strategy directive. This provides
the objective of achieving good environmental
conditions in Europe's marine environment by
2021, which is the time of the first review of the
river basin management plans under the EU
water framework directive. The MSD proposal
also delineates European marine regions and sub-
regions by promoting an ecosystem approach,
and facilitating spatial monitoring and assessment
programmes.
The marine strategy states that implementation
will only provide a supportive framework for
national strategies foreseen by the EU's ICZM
Recommendation and for spatial planning in
general.
The role of the Strategic Environmental Assessment
Directive (2001/42/EC) is essential for addressing
conflicts in the long-term development of coastal
zones, and for backing the ICZM. The full potential
of the SEA directive in addressing the cumulative
impacts of individual economic sectors is an
important factor in coastal zone management. Its
implementation by Member States will broaden the
scope of all development plans and programmes.
The SEA directive provides good grounds for
integrated spatial planning and risk management,
with a view to increasing the sustainability of
coastal zones.
Integrated coastal management should greatly
help improve coordination among policies, sectors
and across scales. It would promote integration
and coherence between all relevant policies, both
horizontal and vertical. For instance, in Sweden the
Planning and Building Act is the instrument that
can bring the different sector agencies together.
This act is currently under review, and ICZM issues
are being considered (Eionet consultation, Sweden).
There has been relevant progress in the last five
years in integrating environmental issues into
spatial planning, and in developing a forum
and Agenda 21 to initiate public debate and
participation. The indicator which measures
progress on ICZM, developed by the Working
Group on Indicators and Data (WG-ID) for the EU
ICZM Expert Group, has been tested by different
countries and regions during 2005. 'Guidance
notes for completing the progress indicator' were
produced by the WG-ID. France, Poland, Belgium,
Malta, the southern United Kingdom, a number
of regions in Catalonia, Spain, Emilia Romagna
in Italy and the Forum of the Adriatic and Ionian
Cities & Towns have organised meetings with
different levels of administration (e.g. national,
regional, local) and different sectoral stakeholders.
These meetings were intended to implement the
ICZM progress indicator and evaluate the current
state of ICZM. Furthermore, it is expected that a
number of countries will work on assessing their
ICZM status during 2006 (e.g. northern United
Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, and others).
Testing is carried out through EU projects such as
COREPOINT Interreg IIIB. This testing shows that
concrete steps are being taken towards achieving
sustainable development. To complement the
progress indicator in ICZM, WG-ID has also
produced a suite of sustainability indicators
to measure the success of coastal management
initiatives. The Interreg IIIC project DEDUCE has
recently commenced. This will calculate the set of
27 indicators, developed by the WG-ID, in order to
measure the sustainability of coastal development
at local, regional, national and European levels by
applying a common methodology.
4.2.3 Policy elements addressing the sea/land
interface
One of the difficulties of coastal management so
far has been the absence of policy elements which
comprehensively tackle the area between the
sea and land boundary. ICZM aims to preserve
coastal resources, their ecological functioning and
ultimately their values by applying adequate land
use planning within a social, institutional and
economic context (Skourtos et al., 2005).
Within this context, the EU's ICZM
Recommendation provides an earlier framework,
which is so far unique. The Recommendation
clearly addresses the coasts from the standpoint
of sustainable development, and encompasses
economic, environmental and social aspects
(Figure 17). The EU's ICZM Recommendation
provides an opportunity to enhance the sea/
land interface within a sustainable development
perspective, in a similar way to the forthcoming EU
maritime policy.
As discussed earlier, the thematic strategy for the
protection of the marine environment deals with
the land/sea interface by prioritising the good
environmental quality of marine regions. Using
an ecosystem approach, this objective focuses
on tackling land-based pressures to the marine
environment, such as water, nutrient and sediment
discharges from river catchments, coastal urban
centres and ports, natural debris, and the air-borne
deposition of nitrogen, heavy metals and some
chemicals.
Figure 17 ICZM: the sea/land interface in a sustainable development perspective
Spatial planning, regional development
and cohesion considerations
A
d
m
in
istra
tio
n
le
v
e
ls D
iv
e
rsity
o
f E
U
co
a
sts
Economic
considerations
Environmental and
recreation
considerations
Social and cultural
considerations
The Green Paper for a European maritime policy
(2006) targets vitalisation of the whole maritime
sector of Europe. By acknowledging that 80 % of
ocean pollution results from land-based human
activities, the consultation document of the
forthcoming maritime policy show a clear link
between the marine and terrestrial environment,
including the sea/land interface, and therefore
coastal zones. However, maritime policy is aimed
at embracing the whole complexity of disconnected
areas. This includes maritime transport, fishing,
aquaculture, oil and gas exploration, use of wind
and tidal power, shipbuilding, tourism and
marine research. These activities increasingly
compete for land and space and are visible on the
coast. Therefore, the need for integrated coastal
management and development in Europe's
regional policy is recognised. The EU's ICZM
Recommendation could support maritime policy
development.
As stated by Commissioner J. Borg (speech
17.02.2006) in the drafting of the Green Paper,
'We have been confronted with the challenge of
finding the balance between economic growth
and the exploitation of our seas on one hand, and
preservation of the ocean environment on the
other.' He also admitted that without a healthy
and sustainable marine environment any potential
economic benefits from oceans will be short lived.
By including in the Green Paper a discussion on
maximising welfare in coastal regions, maritime
policy aims for a comprehensive approach to ICZM
and to managing the sea/land interface, coastal

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EEA Report No 6/2006